Love Never Dies
by w.i.t.c.h fan in ut
Summary: Five years after leaving Konoha, the guardians must return, against their will, for a mission given to them by the Oracle. Will the Guardians and Shinobi be able to get over what had passed years ago or will unresolved feelings be unleashed?
1. Chapter 1

**W.I.T.C.H. Fan: Yo, yo yigidi yo! What's up guys! Okay honestly I was going to wait a few more months to publish this, but I couldn't wait that long. Besides I knew you guys were dying after the way the first story ended so I thought I'd go easy on you guys. Well without further ado, I give you the sequel to Naruto and the Guardians! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and W.I.T.C.H, nor will I ever or else this would have already happened. **

**Love never dies**

Irma Lair yawned and stretched her arms over her head as she walked down the street for her rendezvous with her friends.

'We've all been so busy lately, it'll be nice to spend some time together,' she thought with a smile.

"Hey Irma!"

The guardian turned around with a huge grin to see Hay Lin running up to her. "Hey Hay, what's up?" she asked as the black haired girl fell in step with her.

"Same old same old," Hay Lin responded with a shrug. "Being a fashion intern has its ups and downs like everything else, but it's worth it. What about you? Any new gigs?"

Irma sighed. "Not recently."

Hay Lin shook her head. "I'm telling you Irma, if you want to be a singer and actress you have to go to other cities and audition for stuff. You can't stay in Heatherfield your whole life."

"And leave you guys behind? Are you nuts?" The brunette replied. "We're still guardians for crying out loud, I can't leave. Besides I'm only twenty one, I still have a little bit longer."

"Whatever you say," Hay Lin replied.

As they walked into the restaurant they had decided to meet at, they saw Will, Cornelia, and Taranee already sitting at their usual table.

"About time you guys showed up, I'm starving!" Will cried the second she saw them.

"Well we can't all go to the college right next to this place," Irma said with a smirk.

"That's only because you and Hay Lin decided not to go to college," Cornelia pointed out.

The earth guardian and Will were twenty two years old and in college. Taranee, who was twenty one like Irma and Hay Lin, had finished college early and was working at a dance studio.

"So Will have you had any progress on that book of yours?" Hay Lin asked with a grin. Will had develped a passion for writing over the years and had written a book based on the guardians adventures, as well as smaller fantasy works.

At Hay Lin's question, the redhead bit her lip and the girls could see her eyes twinkling with excitement. "As a matter of fact there has been. I didn't tell you guys earlier because I didn't want to jinx anything. A few weeks ago I accidentally left my bag in my English class and my professor found my manuscript. He showed it to a friend who specialized in fantasy and it's going to be published."

Irma and Hay Lin let out excited cheers and Cornelia and Taranee threw their arms around Will's neck in a celebratory hug.

"Congratulations Will!" Taranee said.

"So, what are we going to do to celebrate this momentous occasion?" the earth guardian asked.

"Well I would like to go to Meridian and tell Elyon about this so we can celebrate with her," the keeper replied.

"Totally," the water guardian agreed. "It wouldn't be the same without Elyon."

It wasn't until everybody started staring at her that Irma realized she had been absentmindedly playing with the blue necklace around her throat. It was the blue necklace that Shikamaru had given her at the Christmas party five years ago. She hadn't realized she was still wearing it until after they had left the village and, even though Irma had said she would, she couldn't get rid of it.

"I thought you said you wouldn't wear that necklace anymore," Cornelia said quietly, though there was a sharp edge to her voice.

"I guess I just forgot about it that's all," Irma said defended lamely.

"You wear it every freaking day Irma. How could you forget about it?" Taranee snapped.

"It's just a necklace guys. Whatever sentimental value it had for me went away four years ago," the brunette retorted.

"Five," Will said suddenly.

"What?" Irma, Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin asked, turning to look at the redhead.

"It's been five years today since we left the village," The redhead explained.

All the girls were silent for a few minutes as unwanted memories came back to them.

"I can't believe it's been five years since we left," Hay Lin said softly.

"It kinda makes you wonder how everyone back there is doing," Taranee added.

"Look let's forget this whole little side conversation ever happened," Cornelia said. "Let's just go to Meridian and celebrate the news about Will's book with Elyon."

With smiles on their faces, all five of the girls jumped up and made their way out the door. Irma lagged behind a little and looked down at the necklace.

"_You know you aren't as much of a pain as I thought you were."_

She started as Shikamaru's voice from their first date ran through her mind. The girl shook her head to get all unwanted thoughts from her mind before quickly running to catch up with her friends.

'I have no reason to think of him," Irma told herself. 'I got over him a long time ago.'

* * *

><p>Shikamaru, Ino, and Sasuke all shook their heads in both mild amusement and disgust as they watched Naruto and Chouji each devour twelve giant bowls of Ramen in their weekly eating contest.<p>

"HA! I won, believe it!" Naruto yelled, slamming his last bowl on the table two miniscule seconds before Chouji could.

The old man and Ayame both laughed heartily as the Akimichi frowned and the famous Knuckle head did a victory dance in his seat.

"Naruto, isn't the Hokage supposed to be a bit more distinguished than this?" Ino asked with a small grin.

"Hey just because I'm the Hokage it doesn't mean that I can't enjoy myself every once in a while," the blonde replied.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Naruto to you once in a while is once every four days."

His best friend glared at him. "I wouldn't be saying stuff like that if I were Sasuke. I promoted you to Anbu and I can demote you to academy teacher with Shikamaru in a second."

"Please don't. Having Sasuke working in the Academy would be such a pain," The lazy genius said.

"Plus all those kids would tear him to shreds," Chouji chuckled.

"Hn," The Uchiha replied though his friends could see that he was annoyed with them teasing him.

"Ah lighten up Sasuke," Ino chirped. "You've been grouchy all day."

"With good reason," he muttered. "It's been five years."

Immediately Shikamaru, Naruto, Ino, and Chouji's faces darkened. They didn't have to be told what Sasuke meant. They knew.

The clouds watcher stood up. "I have to go," he said, ignoring the way his teammates looked after him.

His good mood having vanished, Naruto silently stood up, nodded to remaining three of his friends and walked back to the Hokage tower to finish his paper work. Sasuke let out a deep breath before heading back to his house, leaving Chouji and Ino alone.

"I can't believe that it's still hard on them, even after so long," the beautiful blonde observed.

"Yeah, you think they would've at least gotten over it a little bit," her chubby companion agreed.

"I have to admit though, I miss Irma too. For some reason the village hasn't been the same without her here," Ino said, putting her chin in her hands.

"Well we know Shikamaru hasn't been the same since she left," Chouji said with a frown.

"I was hoping nobody would bring it up today," the girl said. "I saw Neji, Lee, and Kiba and they're a little bit moody today too."

"Yeah we're all in kind of a bad mood today," the Akimichi said with a nod.

A few minutes later the cloud watcher sighed deeply as he walked into his apartment. 'Has it really been five years? Seems so much longer than that,' he thought walked over to his dresser.

Opening the top drawer he reached in pulled out the small silver ring he had given Irma when he was 17, which had been kept in perfect condition over the years.

"_Shikamaru I love you!"_

Shikamaru smiled bitterly as he remembered Irma's joyful exclamation. He knew that she had only said it because he had agreed to go with her to help Will and Hay Lin and hadn't meant it seriously. But her voice still haunted him.

He had tried to get over her. Really he had. He'd used all sorts of means of distraction, from missions to seclusion in the first year. He had even stopped escorting Temari whenever she was in the village because she reminded him too much of her younger sister. Shikamaru had finally stopped lying to himself when Ino quite forcefully threatened to put him in a coma if he didn't shape up. Even though he'd made some progress he still couldn't shake off his feelings for the water guardian no matter how hard he tried.

"What a drag," he muttered.

* * *

><p>"Will I'm so happy for you!" Elyon squealed, throwing her arms around her friend's neck.<p>

"Thank Ellie," Will replied, returning the hug.

"So what do you want to do?" the queen asked. "You can decide how we should celebrate. This is your big news after all."

"Make it good Will," Irma piped up. "I've been dying of boredom for the past few weeks and I need some excitement."

That's when the heart of Candracar elevated itself and a fold appeared in Elyon's throne room.

Taranee grinned widely. "Irma I think you might just get your wish."

"Alright!" Hay Lin cried. "I hope we can finally get some more bad-guy-butt-kicking action after so long."

"I'll come with you," Elyon said. "I could use a little more action myself these days."

As the girls stepped through the fold and into Candracar's congregation room they were greeted by Halinor and Luba.

"It's been a long time guardians," the cat like woman said with small smile.

"I trust you have all enjoyed your few years of rest," Halinor asked.

"Yes we have, but please tell us the Oracle has something exciting for us to do," Cornelia said, barely able to contain her curiosity.

"As anxious as ever guardians," the Oracle said walking into the room. "However this may not be as exciting and adventurous as you had hoped."

Irma, Hay Lin, and Elyon's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Great," they all muttered sarcastically.

"What's the job Oracle?" Will asked.

"Halinor the scrolls please," the wise man said, holding out his hand to the former guardian.

Halinor handed him two thick scrolls, which he then handed to Will. "The council and I have decided that it would be best to create alliances with the other worlds so in case of an extreme event there would be more forces who would fight with us in our cause," the Oracle explained.

"So you want us to go and get the treaties signed?" The redhead asked.

"Exactly."

"So I guess I won't really be needed then," The queen said as she began to turn to leave.

"Actually my young queen, it may be useful to have you go with them. Having a powerful ruler such as yourself with the guardians to help negotiate the treaty may prove affective," the oracle interjected.

Elyon smiled, pleased to have been allowed in the loop.

"So how do you want us to approach this?" Taranee asked, as she examined the scrolls.

"You may approach it as you deem fit guardians. However no matter where you are sent the treaty must be signed before you can continue to the next world," Luba said.

"Doesn't sound too bad," the air guardian said with a small smile.

Irma shrugged. "At least we'll get to travel."

The earth guardian stepped forward. "So when do you want us to start on this Oracle."

"You'll be starting today. Members of the congregation have already made astral drops to take your place for the time being," the man said.

The guardians and the queen all smiled eagerly. "Great so where's the first stop?" Will asked.

"It's actually two stops. There are two villages you are to go to. The kages will each sign their own respective scroll," the oracle said.

The girls all froze as they picked up on one word in the Oracle's sentence.

"Kages?" Hay Lin asked hesitantly. "What do you mean exactly when you say kages?"

"The Hokage and the Kazekage of course," the Oracle stated. "You will be going to the Village Hidden in the Leaf and the Village hidden in the Sand."

_END OF CHAPTER_

**W.I.T.C.H. Fan: Can't you just sense the drama about to unfold. What can I say, drama makes every story better. Anyways I really hope you guys likes the beginning to Love Never Dies and I hope you stay tuned for the rest of the story. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Naruto grumbled and rubbed his head trying to stop the oncoming headache. Paperwork was such a pain in the neck.

There was a knock on the door before it was cracked open and Sakura's head poked through. "Hey Naruto. You busy?"

"Ah, just doing the boring stuff," he replied. "What's up Sakura?"

"Konohamaru got into quite the pickle just a few minutes ago. You're going to have to go down and help him," his friend answered.

Naruto slapped his forehead. "Again? Man how many times am I going to have to save Konohamaru's sorry butt?"

The rosette giggled. "Don't worry, it's not half as bad as last time."

"Well can you stay here for a while Sakura? If anyone comes to talk with me, just tell them that I'll be back in a few minutes," the Hokage said rushing out.

"Sure thing!" Sakura called after him with a grin.

* * *

><p>"Screw. My. Life," Cornelia muttered as she, Will, Irma, Taranee, Hay Lin, and Elyon made their way towards the village gates.<p>

"Amen to that sister!" Irma agreed wholeheartedly.

"You two aren't really helping," Hay Lin said crossing her arms.

"Well do you wanna be back here, Hay Lin," Elyon replied crossly.

Taranee frowned. "She's just saying that you three could be a little more-"

"Will you all just be quiet?" Will yelled throwing her hands into the air in frustration. "None of us want to be here and we all know that, but we don't have a choice. This is a guardian matter and we have to do this for the Oracle. So right now let's put our personal feelings about this whole thing aside and deal with this like the adults we are. Alright?"

It took a few seconds, but eventually the rest of the guardians nodded their agreement.

"Good," the keeper said with a small sigh of relief. "Besides it probably won't be as bad as you think. We can just tell Tsunade why we're back, have her sign the scroll, send the other one to Gaara, and leave by this time tomorrow. We probably won't even see anybody else if we're lucky."

None of them said anything else as they continued to the village. When they reached the gates Irma, Cornelia, and Will swallowed hard, remembering that the last time they had gone through these gates, they had been part of a plan to destroy the village. They quickly threw on the cloaks they had brought with them to cover their faces and began to make their way through the village. It had been years since they had walked in the Leaf Village and none of them could stop glancing around to see what had changed and what hadn't.

Along the way Irma spotted the Yamanaka flower shop and clenched her fists, trying not to think about the times she and Ino used to goof off and make each other laugh when she had worked there. They also passed by Ichiraku's and Hay Lin smiled bitterly, recalling that it was a shared love of ramen that had started her friendship with Naruto.

It wasn't until they were almost to the Hokage tower that Taranee looked up at the mountain and froze. "Uh guys, we have a problem."

"What do you mean Tara?" the queen asked.

The fire guardian pointed upward and her friends' eyes widened in horror when they saw a carving of Naruto's face right after Tsunade's.

"Oh crap!" Cornelia said.

"That's it we're screwed!" the water guardian declared.

The redhead quickly straightened her shoulders. "No we're not. Like I said we will handle this as adults with no personal ties to this mission. Naruto being the Hokage is nothing we have to worry about. We can totally handle this."

Despite the confidence in her voice, Will couldn't help, but glance to Hay Lin and was proud to see a look of determination on her face.

"Come on guys lets hurry and get this over with."

* * *

><p>"Naruto how you manage to get anything done is beyond me," Sakura muttered as she tried to organize the cluster of papers scattered all over Naruto's desk.<p>

A knock on the door stopped her from what she was doing and she turned around to face the door. "Come in."

Sakura's eyes narrowed slightly when six clocked figures walked into the room. "What can I do for you?"

"We're here to see the Hokage," Will said, keeping her head lowered.

"He's not here at the moment I'm afraid. Something needed his personal attention, but he should be back in a few minutes," the pink haired girl told them.

"This is urgent," Cornelia blurted out impatiently.

"I can go and find him if you would like," Sakura said.

"Thank you, we would appreciate that," Elyon said trying to shoot Cornelia a warning look from under her hood.

The medic nodded. "No problem. Nar-Lord Hokage will be with you shortly," she said walking out and closing the door behind her.

There were a few minutes of quiet as the guardians looked around the room.

"Well it doesn't look like Sakura's changed much," the fire guardian observed as they all took off their hoods. "Wonder what she was doing here?"

"Who knows," Irma said shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe she and Naruto are dating."

Will was the only one who noticed Hay Lin's shoulders tense slightly. "Nah, no offense to Sakura or anything, but Naruto has better taste then that. Besides I remember him saying that he and Sakura were just friends."

"Pretty close friends apparently," The queen responded.

Again the air guardian tensed up.

"Yeah who knows what could've happened while we were gone. For all we know Naruto could be married by this point," Cornelia agreed.

"I can't do this!" Hay Lin cried suddenly. "Will I'm sorry, but I can't see him. Not now."

"It's okay, I really don't think I can either. Taranee think you can handle this for me?" Will asked.

"I'll try. Although I'm pretty sure Cornelia is going to try her methods of negotiating no matter what," The dark skinned girl retorted.

Hay Lin quickly made her way over to the door, but just as she opened it, there was a flash of orange and she suddenly found herself lying on the floor with a heavy weight on top of her. When she looked up to see what it was, she found herself staring into deep blue eyes.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry!" Naruto said quickly getting off of the woman he had fallen on. "I was just running so fast to get here and then you opened the door and I didn't have time to stop."

Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Elyon all watched the scene in front of them with their jaws dropped as Naruto rambled on about how sorry he was for having knocked Hay Lin down. What surprised them was he didn't recognize her, or see the look of total shock plastered on to her face.

"Ugh sorry, I'm totally running my mouth again. My friend said you needed to-" the spiky haired man trailed off as he took a closer look at the young woman in front of him. She had long black hair pulled into a high ponytail and with her pale, smooth looking skin and large, gentle brown eyes, she was probably the most beautiful woman Naruto had ever seen in his life. There was also something strangely familiar about her.

That's when he looked up at her friends. The second he saw Will, he recognized her immediately. He quickly glanced at the other guardians and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"No freaking way!" he breathed. Then he whipped his head to face the air guardian. "Hay Lin? Is that really you?"

The black haired girl in a moment of pure panic bolted out of the room with Will hot on her heels. Naruto was just about to go after them to get some answers when Cornelia grabbed the back of his Hokage cloak and threw him into his chair.

"Alright Naruto listen up," the earth guardian said slamming her hands on his desk. "Yes it's us, yes we're back, but it's only temporary. For the record I don't really care if you're the Hokage or not you are going to listen to us and you're not going to interrupt us at anytime, got that?"

"Could you have been any more demanding?" Irma asked dryly from behind her.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and stood up to face Cornelia. "I'll listen when you tell me what the heck is going on! Why did you come back after so many years?"

Cornelia was about to yell at him, but Elyon and Irma quickly grabbed her and held her back.

"This is so not going the way we wanted it to," Taranee muttered putting her head in her hands. Taking a deep breath she turned to Naruto.

"Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" he asked.

The fire guardian held up the scroll and handed it to the Hokage. "Naruto listen, we didn't come back as a personal thing. We're here strictly on guardian business."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked taking the scroll and opening it to see what it said.

"This is treaty from Candracar. I assume you've heard about the Oracle from Tsunade?" Elyon asked.

Again the blonde man nodded. "Yeah, but what does he have to do with anything?"

"He wants us, as guardians, to go to the other worlds and have them sign treaties, aligning themselves with Candracar," Irma explained.

"We have one for the sand village too, so you're not the only one who has to sign this," the queen piped up.

Naruto was silent for a few minutes before looking up to stare at them with piercing eyes. "Why did you leave?"

"Not important," Cornelia replied coldly, matching his sapphire glare with hers.

The Hokage looked like he was ready to yell a retort, but Taranee quickly butted in. "What she means is it's not important because we won't be staying long."

"So you're leaving again huh? I shouldn't be too surprised," he said bitterly. "So will someone from this Candracar come get the treaty once it's signed?"

"I wish," Irma said without thinking. "But we can't leave until you-" She was cut off when Cornelia slapped her hand over her mouth.

Unfortunately for them Naruto figured it out what she had been about to say and very slowly a large evil smirk appeared on his face. "You can't leave until I sign this can you?"

The girls didn't say anything and their silence only confirmed his suspicions and he chuckled rather darkly. "Well ladies I'm sorry, but as Hokage I need to read any treaty very carefully and think over the conditions and considering the thickness of this scroll, I'd say it'll take quite a while until I'm ready to sign it."

The earth guardian made an attempt to go at him again, but the tight grip of Irma, Taranee, and Elyon held her back, though it was clear they were just as angry as she was.

"Naruto really," Elyon said through gritted teeth. "Act like an adult and don't do anything that will make things difficult for not only us, but your friends."

"Oh you mean like Kiba, Hinata, and Shino?" Naruto asked.

Elyon's back went ramrod straight and if looks could kill, Naruto would have died three times from her icy glare. "You little-"

"Please Naruto," Taranee tried again. "We just want to leave as soon as possible so we don't cause any trouble."

"As much as I'd love to keep arguing with you," the blonde muttered. "I honestly think it'll take me some time to read through this treaty. I'll sign it as soon as I can."

The four of them recognized the subtle dismissal and angrily put on their hoods as they made their way to the door.

"By the way the apartments you guys lived in the last time you were here are still available. You can use them if you'd like," the Hokage called after them rather bitterly. "Be sure to tell my sister that when you see her."

Cornelia was the last to leave, but she had one more thing to say to the spiky haired man. "Naruto if you so much as think about telling the other shinobi that we're back, I swear I will hunt you down and beat you to a bloody pulp."

"Well Cornelia you don't have to worry about that because I won't," he replied.

The two had another short glaring contest before she walked out, closing the door behind her.

The young Hokage then let a foxy grin appear on his face for, despite Cornelia's threat, his fingers had been crossed behind his back.

'I think I should get the guys up here pretty soon,' Naruto thought as his smirk got even wider.

_END OF CHAPTER_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sitting on the rooftops of their old apartments, Irma couldn't help, but glance at Hay Lin and felt a pang of sympathy. The poor girl still looked shaken from her encounter with Naruto. The water guardian sighed. She'd had a feeling something like this would happen. Out of all of the guardians and the shinobi, Hay Lin and Naruto were the only ones that said they loved each other and Irma knew that her best friend still had feelings for the blonde hokage no matter how much she denied it.

"Are you sure you're okay," she asked again for what must have been the third time.

Hay Lin let out a frustrated breath. "Yes Irma I'm fine."

The spunky brunette snickered. "You really should have seen your face when Naruto fell on you. You looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car!"

"This is so not funny," The air guardian grumbled, placing her chin on her knees.

"Yeah I know," Irma replied. "Sorry. How's Will doing?"

"She doing as fine as any girl can after seeing her long lost twin brother after five years of not even talking about him," Hay Lin replied.

"Yeah well that's exactly why I'm going to try and avoid going to the sand village even if it kills me," the blue eyed girl said. "Because there is no freaking way that I am going to face Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro."

It was quiet for a few more moments as Hay Lin thought the situation over. She couldn't help but think back to the moment in Naruto's office. The guardian couldn't help, but feel a sense of pride for Naruto for achieving his dream and becoming Hokage. She had also, despite her panic over the situation, noticed that the renowned knuckle head had become a very handsome man. His hair had gotten a little longer and he had gotten even taller than Hay Lin remembered. His eyes though were still the same warm, deep, blue they had been five years ago.

"It was nice of Naruto to let us stay here in the apartments again," the water guardian said, snapping Hay Lin's attention back to their current conversation.

"Yeah it was," she replied absentmindedly.

Irma raised an eyebrow at Hay Lin for several seconds before letting out a sigh. "You're going to have to face him sometime you know. You can't hide from Naruto forever."

"I can certainly try," the black haired girl said standing up. "I'm going to fly around for a while, clear my head. Wanna come?"

"Nah," her friend said waving her hand. "I think I'll stay grounded for a while. Besides I think you could use some thinking time."

"Yeah right," Hay Lin mumbled before taking off into the air.

As soon as she was sure the air guardian was a good distance away, Irma hopped off the roof, once again putting on her cloak. 'I know I'm so going to regret this later,' she thought as she walked back into the village.

* * *

><p>In the Hokage's office, Neji, Sasuke, Lee, Kiba, and Shikamaru all looked at Naruto's curiously. Their friend had a look on his face that spoke of upcoming mischief and they weren't so optimistic about having been called to see him when he was like this.<p>

"Why exactly did you send for us Naruto," Neji asked. The hokage had made it clear that his friends were to never call him 'Lord Hokage' because it just sounded weird to him.

Naruto snickered. "You guys are not going to believe what I'm about tell you. Let's start with this," he said holding up the treaty scroll.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked, rather bored with this whole thing.

"Oh just a treaty from the Oracle of Candracar," the blonde replied casually.

Instantly all his friends froze and his smirk grew even wider, if that was even possible considering it was already wide enough as it was.

"Okay hold up," Kiba said, putting his hands in front of him. "When you say Oracle, do you mean _the_ Oracle as in the one the…guardians work for?"

"That's the one believe it!" Naruto cried. "And speaking of the guardians, guess who dropped it off."

The looks on his friends' faces made it very difficult for the former knuckle head to not burst out laughing. Lee and Kiba's jaws had dropped and Shikamaru, Neji, and Sasuke's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their heads.

Shikamaru was the first to regain his composure and he glared at his friend. "Naruto if this is some kind of sick joke then-"

"It's not a joke!" Naruto yelled. "The guardians are back in the leaf village. And the awesome thing is, that's not the best part. They can't leave until I sign this treaty!"

The hokage smiled widely at all his friends, waiting for them to get over their surprise and actually be happy for once. His smile disappeared when Neji spoke up.

"Sign the treaty now Naruto," the prodigy said.

The blonde's jaw dropped. "Are you nuts Neji! The girls are back and you want me to give them the only way out!"

"I agree with him," the Uchiha said. "They're here for a mission, not because they wanted to be here. They'll only cause trouble for everyone. Sign the stupid scroll and get them out."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Were these two really suggesting that they weren't going to fight to have Will and Cornelia stay? He quickly glanced at his friends to see what they thought.

Lee looked like he was torn between wanting to have the girls stay or letting them leave. Shikamaru had a look on his face that said he was thinking about every possible outcome of either option. Kiba on the other hand spoke his mind.

"I'm with Neji and Sasuke on this," he said.

"I can't believe you guys!" The Hokage said jumping to his feet. "We all spend five years wanting to see them again and when the moment finally comes three of you suddenly decide that you don't care about them anymore?"

"I'm out of here," Sasuke said turning his back on Naruto and walking out. The others soon followed after him leaving a shell shocked Hokage staring after them in disbelief.

* * *

><p>Will, Taranee, Cornelia, and Elyon were quiet as they sat in their apartments. They hadn't spoken for several minutes and it was becoming awkward.<p>

"So what are we gonna do, just hide out here until the idiot signs the dumb scroll?" Elyon asked.

"Honestly Elyon, I have no idea," Will said putting her hand over her eyes. "I guess I should have thought this through more carefully instead of diving in headfirst like that."

"Speaking of diving in head first," Cornelia said, just realizing this. "Where's Irma?"

The keeper narrowed her eyes. "I have no idea. Last I saw she was with Hay Lin on the roof."

The queen shook her head. "I was just there looking for them. Neither of them was there."

Taranee's eyes widened. "They've gotta be in the village then!"

"Aw crap!" Will cried jumping to her feet and grabbing her cloak. "Cornelia you go and find Irma. I'll look for Hay Lin. Taranee, Elyon, you guys just chill here in case they come back before we do."

"Come on!" Elyon cried. "Why do we always have to be the ones that just sit back and do nothing?"

Her words fell on deaf ears, as Will and Cornelia were already out the door. Angrily, the young queen punched the wall, but all that did was give her a sore fist and make her even angrier.

"Way to go O' Smooth one," the Fire guardian mumbled.

"Shut up," the blonde replied through gritted teeth. A few seconds later she turned to the door.

"Where are you going?" Taranee asked.

"To look for Irma and Hay Lin. I'm sick of getting left behind all the time!" The queen said before slamming the door shut.

The dark skinned girl sighed. "We'll all be lucky if we still have some sanity after this whole ordeal."

* * *

><p>Irma paused a few feet away from her destination and looked up at the familiar sign. 'I remember when Ino gave me a job here,' she thought with a small smile.<p>

The water guardian knew that if any of the other guardians found out they would skin her alive, but she just wanted to see how Ino was doing. Taking a deep breath Irma walked into the Yamanaka flower shop, preparing herself for the questioning she knew was coming.

Ino looked up when she heard the bell ring and raised an eyebrow as a person wearing a cloak walked in. "Hello how may I help you?"

"I just wanted to look around," Irma replied, musing about how similar this was to when she had first met Ino. As she looked at all the flowers, her eyes fell on a very familiar bouquet. As she reached for it, Ino's voice stopped her.

"I'm afraid that isn't for sale."

"Why not?" the brunette asked.

"A friend of mine arranged that bouquet before she left the village. I keep it there to remember her," the blonde woman replied.

A smirk played on Irma's face. "Aw Ino I can't believe you kept my bouquet after so long!"

The ninja whipped around so fast, the guardian was afraid her spine would snap. "What do you mean 'your' bouquet?"

With another deep breath, the blue eyed girl took off her hood and raised her face to her friend's. "Hey Ino."

Ino stood frozen for several seconds, mouth agape, as she stared at Irma. Any other person would think she was just stunned speechless, but Irma knew better than that. She knew the purple wearing girl was building up for an explosion. Sure enough Ino lost it.

"IRMA! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! WHEN DID YOU GET BACK AND WHY DID YOU LEAVE IN THE FIRST PLACE! DO YOU REALIZE HOW MAD I WAS WHEN YOU LEFT! GAH, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO HUG YOU OR STRANGLE YOU RIGHT NOW!"

The water guardian stood silent as Ino continued to yell at her. She deserved it, she knew that much. After few more shouts the blonde stopped and glared at Irma panting. With a smile on her face Irma looked at her.

"So are you gonna hug me or what?" She asked.

The guardian watched in complete relief as a large smile formed on Ino's face before the two girls hugged each other.

"You're insanely lucky that I didn't strangle you just now," the blonde said with a small laugh.

"I'm surprised you didn't," the brunette grinned. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine. Nothing's really happened around here except for Naruto becoming Hokage and my wedding," the girl said smirking slightly and holding up her hand so Irma could see the diamond ring on her finger.

Irma's jaw dropped. "No freaking way! Okay you gotta tell me who the lucky man is like now!"

"I'll give you hint; he prefers to be called chubby."

"You married Chouji!" the guardian said with a huge smile. "Ino that is fantastic! You guys are perfect for each other!"

Ino smiled back. "Thanks we think so too," her smile faded and she became somber. "Seriously though Irma, I have to ask. Why are you back?"

Irma sighed. "Long story short, the Oracle, my boss so to speak, had me and the other guardians come here to give Naruto a treaty and we can't leave till the brat signs it. All in all we're stuck here."

Ino nodded slowly a sad look appearing in her eyes. "You want to leave that badly?"

The water queen smiled softly and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's mostly because I don't want to face Shikamaru. Speaking of him, please, please don't tell him that I came to see you today."

"I promise I won't tell him and…thanks for coming by."

"I'm not leaving just yet," Irma smirked. "We still have some catching up to do."

A huge smile came over Ino's face and for the next few minutes, after five long years, two friends began to reconnect.

* * *

><p>As Elyon ran through the village she tried not to draw too much attention to herself as she looked for Irma. She knew the water guardian probably wasn't stupid enough to go talk to anyone who might recognize her, but she had no idea where to look. Realizing other people were beginning to look at her strangely she decided to head toward the training grounds.<p>

"Irma I hope you haven't done something incredibly stupid," she thought. The queen leapt through the trees of the training grounds in order to keep herself hidden. A smile made its way across her face. Elyon had forgotten how much fun using her ninja skills could be. Just as she was about to give up, the blonde heard the noise of kunai hitting a target and decided to check it out.

'Irma that better be you,' the girl thought going closer to the noise. Unfortunately for her it wasn't Irma, but someone worse; Kiba

Quickly Elyon masked her chakra so her ex-boyfriend wouldn't know she was there and instead of leaving she remained where she was. Her head was screaming at her to run for the hills before the dog ninja saw her, but her body for some reason did not want to obey so the queen settled for hiding and watching.

The Inuzuka, she observed with slight disdain, was just as handsome as ever. He was 22 years old now and he hadn't changed much. As Elyon watched him train she remembered when they used to train in this exact spot when they were couple. She tensed drastically when she saw Shino and Hinata enter the training grounds

"Kiba what are you doing here?" Hinata asked. The blonde noted, rather proudly, that the Hyuuga girl had lost her stutter.

"Training what's it look like?" Kiba growled.

"You look angry about something," Shino noted. "Does it have something to do with what Naruto had to tell you and the others earlier?"

Elyon froze. 'Naruto spoke with them today? Oh no. He wouldn't!'

The dog ninja sighed let out a sigh."Elyon and the guardians are back in the village."

'Naruto, you little punk!' The queen thought, clenching her fists. 'I'm gonna freaking kill you!'

Hinata's eyes widened. "Elyon's back? What are you going to do Kiba?"

"Why should I do anything?" Kiba asked. "She's only here out of duty not because she cares about anyone in the village. I say let the little wench do whatever the freak she wants. I couldn't care less."

Elyon's jaw dropped. How dare he say something like that! He was one to talk considering he had chosen duty over her five years ago. As far as she was concerned Kiba was the one who didn't care about her. And did he really just call her a wench?

Behind his glasses, Shino narrowed his eyes. "You can say whatever nonsense you want Kiba, but Hinata and I both know that you care more about Elyon then you're willing to admit, even to yourself."

Kiba barked out a laugh. "Why should I care? Ever since I met Elyon all she did was cause trouble. I just want her out of the village before she creates even more."

With that last sentence, Elyon lost it. Without thinking she launched out of the tree right in front of her former partner and slapped him across the face.

The Hyuuga and bug user stared at the scene in front of them in total shock, though it was more apparent on Hinata's face. 'I can't believe this is happening!' She thought in slight panic, looking between the two people in front of her.

When the Inuzuka turned his head to see who had slapped him all the color drained from his face when he saw the small blonde girl glaring up at him, a fire blazing in those all too familiar blue eyes.

Kiba then realized that he was so screwed it wasn't even funny.

_END OF CHAPTER_

**W.I.T.C.H. fan: Well this was actually longer then I intended it to be, but I doubt you guys are complaining about it. I like to make my readers happy, which is why I'm still open to suggestions. Anything you want to be put in just tell me and I'll see what I can do. R AND R MY FRIENDS!**


	4. Chapter 4

**W.I.T.C.H. fan: Well I do believe this is probably the fastest I've ever updated an original story. That's lucky for you guys huh? **

Chapter 4

Hay Lin let out a deep breath as she flew over the village. The clear air helped to clear her mind to a certain extent, but it didn't calm her jumbled nerves. The air guardian had honestly no idea what to do about Naruto. Part of her wanted to avoid him at all costs, while another wanted to run right to him and throw her arms around his neck. With another sigh she landed on the Hokage Mountain, not really paying attention to her surroundings, and sat down with her head on her knees.

"I hate my life right now," she grumbled.

"I hope that thought doesn't have anything to do with me."

At the sounds of his voice, Hay Lin's eyes almost popped out of her head and she shot into the air intending to fly away from him. Unfortunately his hand grabbed her wrist when she was a few inches off the ground, preventing her from doing that.

"Please don't go Hay Lin, I just want to talk," Naruto said, gently pulling her wrist to bring her closer to him.

The girl eyed him. "Why are you up here?"

"Probably for the same reason you are. To think about what to do now that you and the other guardians are back," he replied.

"I was actually thinking about how I could avoid you," Hay Lin replied with a slight frown. Oh she lying and she knew it and she hated herself for trying to make him feel bad, but she just wanted to get away before either of them got hurt.

The Hokage narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh really, then why is your face turning red?"

"What?" Hay Lin asked.

"Your face always gets red when you lie. Don't think I forgot about that."

The black haired girl stared at him for a few seconds. 'He actually remembered that about me?'

"Hay Lin, please talk to me," Naruto tried again, in an almost pleading voice.

Hay Lin opened her mouth to speak, but someone else beat her to it.

"Let her go Naruto," Will ordered, coming closer to the two.

"Will what are you doing here?" The air guardian asked.

"I'm here because Cornelia and I have been looking for you and Irma. Naruto if you don't let her go in the next five seconds my foot is going to go straight up your-"

"Okay, okay," Naruto said, releasing Hay Lin's wrist. "No need to get so violent Will!"

Hay Lin looked at Naruto for a few more seconds before she flew away from the two siblings.

After she left, the atmosphere was, naturally, extremely awkward for the twins. Finally the knuckle head broke the silence.

"So do you wanna talk?" he asked.

"About what?" The redhead asked.

"Oh I dunno, maybe the fact that you're my sister?"

Will raised an eyebrow and eyed him for a few moments before sighing and walking over to him. "Alright so when did you find out we were twins?"

"Granny Tsunade told me right after you were kidnapped by Madara," Naruto said.

The keeper cringed slightly with guilt as she thought about having wholly believed Madara's lies. "Sorry about that by the way."

"What do you mean?" her brother asked.

"Thinking that you and the others were going to betray us and use our powers for yourselves."

Naruto snickered. "Well I'm sorry that I believed Nerissa's lies about you being spies for the Akatsuki."

Will laughed softly. She'd forgotten how cheerful Naruto could be sometimes. "Hey Naruto did you ever know our parents? Yan Lin only told me who they were, she didn't say anything else. What exactly happened to them?"

The hokage frowned slightly and hesitated before speaking. "The day we were born was the day Madara attacked and unleashed the nine tailed fox. Mom and dad died while saving our lives."

The girl felt her heart tighten at the revelation, but she had more questions. "Did you ever find out what they were like or how they looked?"

"Yeah I did. Mom had long red hair, the same color as yours and the same eyes as you, but I got her personality, while you got dad's."

"So I look like mom, but I have our dad's personality?" Will asked with a grin.

"Pretty much," her brother nodded.

The keeper's grin faded when a dark thought came to her mind. "So if our parents died the day we were born, what happened to you?"

Naruto shrugged aloofly. "Mostly grew up secluded from others since I was jinjuriki. Everyone pretty much hated me for that. I didn't have any friends until graduating the academy."

Will stared at her brother in shock. "How can you say that so calmly?"

"Because it's the past," the blonde said. "Besides no one hates me anymore, I've got a bunch of great friends, and I'm the Hokage."

"What about a girlfriend?" his sister asked.

The young man was silent for a while before looking out over the village. "Hay Lin's the only woman that I've ever been with."

The redhead let out a deep breath. It was time to make a few things clear with her brother. "Naruto, you know the guardians don't want to stay here long. Please don't make this harder than it has to be. I'm glad to see you, I really am, but we don't belong here. Hay Lin doesn't belong here."

The young man gave her a slightly angry look. "What makes you think she-"

"I'm sorry Naruto," Will said, cutting him off. "That's just the way things are."

With that said, Will took off into the air leaving Naruto behind her.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing here?" Kiba asked coldly as Elyon glared up at him.<p>

"That's none of your freaking business," she retorted.

"Oh I think it is considering you just slapped me!" the dog ninja shot back.

Elyon scoffed. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

Kiba threw his hands in the air as if he had just remembered something. "Of course you don't. I guess you aren't used to socializing with peasants like me. My apologies your highness," he said bowing mockingly.

The queen stiffened. "How dare you talk to me like that you insolent dog!"

Hinata stepped forward to try and calm her friends down, but Shino put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, a signal for her to not get involved in this.

"Well you've certainly changed in the past few years. You're a lot more of a snob then I remember. Let me guess, your parents completely spoiled you am I right?" the Inuzuka asked harshly.

"You know nothing about me," the blonde growled through her teeth.

It was Kiba's turn to scoff. "Well that's probably because you never bothered to tell me or these two anything about you in the first place," he said gesturing the Shino and Hinata.

"I had my reasons Kiba," Elyon shouted. "I would've told you if I could have."

"Yeah right," the shinobi said rolling his eyes.

The blonde narrowed her. "You are the most arrogant, pig headed, stubborn man I've ever met!"

An evil smirk crossed Kiba's face. "Oh really? Well here's a little newsflash your highness. I've seen the type of upper class pretty boys your type hangs out with. I'm the only man you've ever met."

At those words, Hinata's jaw dropped, the bug user shook his head, and Elyon clenched her fists and ground her teeth in anger.

'And he just crossed the line,' Shino thought.

As Kiba turned to walk away, the queen saw a kunai on the ground near her feet. She grabbed it and threw it at the dog ninja. He jumped when the blade left a small gash in his arm. He looked over his shoulder at her, an angry look on his face.

"You really wanna go there huh?"

Elyon smirked wickedly. "That felt pretty good actually."

The Hyuuga heiress stepped forward then, despite Shino's protests. "You guys really can't you-"

"Please stay out of this Hinata. I'm sorry, but this isn't your concern," the blonde said. The thing that shocked all of them was she had spoken a lot more kindly to Hinata, than she had to Kiba.

"Why don't you go back to your friends," Kiba snapped. "I'm sure they're missing your oh so commanding presence."

"As long as it gets me away from you," Elyon said turning her back to him. When she was a few feet away she stopped. "Oh and are you sure that you weren't the one who didn't care about me?"

Before the man could reply, the queen left in a blur of color, leaving her former teammates alone.

"Well that really smoothed things over with her," Shino said in a monotone voice.

"Shut Up!" Kiba said through gritted teeth.

* * *

><p>Irma laughed as Ino recounted a funny story to her. "I can't believe Chouji said that!"<p>

"Oh believe me I slapped him hard for that one," Ino said with a grin.

"I don't doubt it," the brunette said through her giggles. "Oh man sounds like a lot of things have happened while I've been gone."

The blonde woman beside her shrugged. "I guess so."

The water queen bit her lip before the thought that had been plaguing her mind slipped out. "Does Shikamaru have a girlfriend?"

Ino blinked, obviously surprised by the sudden change in topic. "No he doesn't have a girlfriend. Why do you ask?"

The answer was a nonchalant shrug. "Just curious I guess."

The ninja raised a slightly disbelieving eyebrow at her friend. "Are you sure it isn't more than that?"

"Ino please don't," the guardian said. "So I was curious if he had a girlfriend, so what? I don't care what Shikamaru does. It's his life."

'And you could've shared it with him,' Ino thought. Out loud she said. "Fine I won't push that subject."

"Thanks," Irma said with a breath of relief.

Suddenly the door opened and the blonde saw who it was a second before Irma could turn around. Acting quickly she grabbed her friend and pushed her away from the door towards the back room. "The flowers you're looking for are right back here miss."

"Ino when you're done with a customer, Chouji wants some barbecue and I told him we'd come in a few minutes," Shikamaru said.

Irma's eyes widened at the sound of his voice and that the moment she was extremely gratefully for Ino's quick thinking.

"Sure thing, I'll be right there," Ino said. Turning to Irma she whispered, "Don't move until we leave, okay?"

"Thanks," the brunette mouthed with a smile.

The Akimichi woman nodded before going back to join Shikamaru. Irma leaned against the wall and put a hand to her head. She'd come so close to being face to face with the lazy genius again. What did he look like now? Had he gotten taller?

'His voice didn't sound like it changed much,' she thought. 'That lazy soft, warm, totally sexy-'

The guardian frantically shook her head trying to rid her head of those thoughts. She would not go down that particular road again. Not if she could help it. After a few more seconds she heard the door close and again let out a sigh of relief at having avoided a confrontation with Shikamaru.

"You seem kinda down Shikamaru," Ino observed. "What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later when we meet Chouji," the dark haired man replied.

That's when the young blonde realized something. "Oh crap. I left my purse back in the shop."

"I'll go get it," Shikamaru said turning back.

"No don't!" Ino cried. "It's fine don't worry about it!"

"What's the big deal? I'm just doing you a favor," her friend replied, with a confused frown.

Before the woman could stop him, Shikamaru walked into the flower shop…and ultimately froze when he saw the brown haired, blue eyed young woman standing in front of him.

Irma was likewise frozen as they stared at each other for what felt like hours, but in reality was just a few seconds.

The genius's forehead creased as he studied the girl. 'It can't be,' he thought, but he knew that it was. While her hair was longer, going a few inches past her waist, her face was still the one he knew as well as his own.

"Irma?" Shikamaru asked.

Five years? The amount of time it had taken Irma to lock away her feelings for Shikamaru and move on with her life.

Two seconds? The time it had taken for all those bottled up feelings and emotions to come racing back, like a flood when he said her name.

'Aw crap!' Irma thought. 'I really hate this stupid mission!'

_END OF CHAPTER_

**W.I.T.C.H. fan: Looks like things are starting to heat up a little. Hope you guys enjoyed it. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ino nervously looked back and forth between Shikamaru and Irma as they just stared, unmoving, at each other. She could've even sworn she heard a cricket. 'Okay this is really, really awkward.'

The water guardian was the first to break the silence. "Hey Shikamaru," she said softly.

In the next second, Irma found herself pressed against Shikamaru, with his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"I can't believe you're back," he mumbled gently.

The brunette shivered as she felt his hot breath by her ear and wondered if it was possible for him to still care about her after so long. She hated admitting it, even to herself, but Irma knew her feelings for him were still there and for that reason she let him hold her for a few brief seconds.

Until she remembered that this was the last thing she should be doing.

Instantly the guardian pushed him away and jumped back a few inches from him. "Shikamaru please don't."

The genius looked at her in confusion, not able to understand her reactions. First she had actually let him embrace her and suddenly she was saying he shouldn't?

Quickly Ino jumped in between them. "Uh Shikamaru why don't we go have that barbecue with Chouji now. I'm sure Irma could use some time alone."

Acting as if she hadn't spoken, Shikamaru walked right past her as he made his way toward Irma, who backed away from him the closer he got. But she had forgotten about the wall. Soon her back was pressed against the wood, with no way of escape.

Irma gulped as the cloud watcher looked down at her with narrowed eyes. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"There's a treaty that Naruto-" The water guardian began.

"I know about the treaty," Shikamaru said, cutting her off. "Naruto already told me, Neji, Sasuke, Kiba, and Lee about it."

Irma made a mental note to beat the living crap out of Naruto later.

"I meant why are you in this flower shop?" He asked again.

"I-I came to see Ino," the guardian replied. 'Crap he makes me so nervous that I actually stutter!' She thought.

It was silent for a few seconds as Shikamaru processed her words. "Why Ino and not someone else?"

Irma straightened her shoulders and looked him square in the eye. "If you're asking why I didn't go to you, it's because I didn't want to see you."

The man's eyes widened slightly with both surprise and hurt. The girl took the opportunity to try and run past him, but he was faster, grabbing her by the arm. Then Shikamaru did something that shocked both Ino and Irma.

He pulled Irma in and kissed her hard on the mouth.

Naturally, the water queen tried to push away, but Shikamaru put one hand on the back of her head and wrapped one arm around her waist to keep her still as he continued to kiss her. In pure desperation, Irma lifted her foot and slammed it onto his as hard as she could. This distracted him long enough that she was able to slip out of his arms and run out the door.

Shikamaru made a move to follow her, but Ino blocked his way. "Ino get out of the way," he cried.

"Forget it Shikamaru!" The blonde cried. "What the heck were thinking grabbing Irma and kissing her like that? What did you expect her to do anyway? Kiss you back as if the past five years never happened?"

"Well what was I supposed to do Ino?" the genius demanded. "Just stand there and let her walk out."

His friend sighed and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Shikamaru, Irma needs some time to think so just let her be."

The Nara then got an angry look on his face. "You expect me to just leave her alone after I haven't seen her in so long. You know I still care about her Ino and I don't think I can do what you want me to do."

"But you have to," Ino pleaded. "Believe me I want Irma to stay almost as much as you do, but do want it to be willingly or do you want her to be forced to stay?"

There was silence as Shikamaru contemplated her words. Finally he glared at her. "I really hate it when you're right about things like this."

* * *

><p>Sasuke was slightly tweaked when he opened his door and found Naruto standing in front of him. "What now?" he asked.<p>

His best friend frowned. "Do you really have to be like that?"

"Fine come in," The Uchiha said with a sigh.

After learning about the guardians from Naruto, all Sasuke wanted was to stay home so he wouldn't have a chance of meeting them. He was pretty sure that Will and Hay Lin weren't going to look for him and there was no way he was taking any chances while they were in the village.

"Do you still have some instant ramen?" The hokage asked, making his way toward the kitchen.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You know I stopped buying that stuff the day you devoured all of it in less than 2 hours."

With an upset childish look on his face, the blonde plopped onto the couch. "Do you have to be such a grouch?"

The dark haired man studied him for several seconds. "Alright, what's wrong this time?"

Just as he was about to answer, a sudden thought crossed Naruto's mind and he smirked. "Nothing's wrong. Actually a few minutes ago I ran into Will."

Every muscle in Sasuke's body tensed, but Naruto kept going as if he hadn't noticed. "We even talked for a few minutes and just before she left she started talking about you."

"She did?" the Uchiha asked in slight disbelief.

"Would I lie to you?" the loud mouth asked. He started up again before Sasuke could retort. "Anyways she said that she wanted to talk with you."

"Why would she want to do that?" Sasuke asked.

"She said she wanted to clear the air with you, but I think the real reason is because she missed you so much," Naruto said with a confident nod. "She should be at her old apartment if you want to see her."

"Well I don't see the need to talk with her," his friend replied.

The blonde grinned. He knew Sasuke's aloof attitude would've fooled anybody else, but he knew the man well enough to see that his little comment about Will had grabbed Sasuke's interest. With any luck it would eventually drive the Uchiha to go looking for Will.

'I know those two are gonna hate me for meddling with their love lives at first, but after this whole thing is resolved they will be singing my praises!' The hokage thought with pure confidence.

* * *

><p>Back at the apartments, Cornelia shook her head as she listened to Will and Elyon. She'd run into them while she'd been looking for Irma, and they'd decided to go back to the apartments. On the way her friends has explained about their encounters with Naruto and Kiba. Hay Lin had already been there with Taranee and they all listened in disbelief to what their friends said.<p>

"I can't believe you two right now. What the heck were you thinking?" The tall blonde demanded.

"Yeah I thought the plan was to lie low and not let anybody see us," Taranee said.

"Yeah I managed to do that more then you guys did," Hay Lin cried.

"Okay in my defense the rest of you have already seen and talked with Naruto. Besides I only asked him about my parents. If it helps I told him that we didn't belong here and that we wanted to go home," Will said.

"Yeah well, Naruto is going to have to watch his back from now on," Elyon scowled.

"And why is that?" the keeper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The jerk told the other guys that we couldn't leave till he signed the freaking treaty," the queen explained.

The earth guardian instantly began to walk towards the door. "If you guys will excuse me I need to go make good on my threat to beat Naruto to pulp."

Just as she was reaching for the handle, the door swung open and Irma flew into the apartment, slammed the door behind her, and leaned against it panting.

"Whoa, what the heck happened to you?" The air guardian asked her best friend.

"Yeah and where the heck have you been Irma?" Will demanded. "Cornelia, Elyon and I were out looking for you everywhere."

Irma sighed. "You guys are gonna kill me, but I went to see Ino."

Will face palmed. "Why, why do you do things on impulse like that?"

"I just wanted to see how she was doing. We talked for a few minutes before…" she trailed off biting her lip.

"Before what?" Cornelia asked.

"Before Shikamaru walked in," Irma finished.

"So what happened?" Taranee asked.

The water guardian bit her lip before continuing. "We just stared at each other for a while, but then he hugged me."

"What did you do?" Hay Lin asked, leaning in a little closer.

"After a few seconds I unfroze and pushed him back. Ino tried to help me get out of there, but Shikamaru cornered me. I tried to run past him, but he grabbed me and then he…he kissed me," she finished in a soft voice.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Irma looked up to see all her friends staring at her with eyes the sizes of dinner plates with their mouths hanging open.

Elyon was the first to recover. "What exactly did you do?"

"Slammed my foot on his then got the freak out of there. Thankfully Ino held him off so I could get back here."

"Wow you're scenario is probably the most exciting on so far," Cornelia said.

"Oh you have no idea," the brunette mumbled.

Hay Lin narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Did anything else happen while you there?"

"No, nothing else," Irma said. In her mind she added, 'Except for, oh I don't know, me realizing that I still have feelings for Shikamaru.'

'Oh that's lovely,' Taranee's sarcastic voice said.

'Ah Taranee!' The water guardian screamed back. 'I can't believe you were snooping around my head! Why would you do that?'

'Because I knew something else had happened that you didn't want anyone else to know,' the fire guardian replied. 'Don't worry I won't tell the others.'

'Thanks,' Irma said with a grateful smile. 'Now will you please stop reading my mind?'

The dark skinned girl smirked, but nodded. Again Irma was grateful because now she could let her thoughts wander without her friends knowing what about. Her lips were still tingling from Shikamaru's kiss, a further affirmation that she could very easily turn to putty in his hands.

'No never again!' She thought. 'I have to stay focused on this mission. I won't let my feelings get in the way. I won't let Shikamaru in again!'

Deep down though, Irma knew that she was just lying to herself.

_END OF CHAPTER_

**W.I.T.C.H. fan: Yeah kind of a short chapter, but it's what I got so yeah. Also a little heads up guys, I'll be gone for about two weeks on vacation with my family (Sea World and Disneyland baby!) so it'll be a while before I update. I will be working on the chapters while I'm away so no worries there. R AND R! **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Naruto glanced at the scroll on his desk and a small smirk appeared on his face. The guardians had been in the leaf village for almost two whole days now and they were no doubt furious with him. He knew he was being childish but in all honesty the young hokage couldn't care less. His mind began to wander to the subject that had been plaguing him for the past couple of days; Hay Lin. Naruto smiled softly as he again thought about the woman she had became. He wouldn't deny that he still cared about her, but Will's words about the air guardian not belonging in the leaf kept running through his mind.

Naruto's thoughts were cut off when the door swung open and Kiba and Neji stepped into the room.

"You know there's a new thing they invented called knocking," the blonde said glaring slightly at the two of them. "You guys should try it sometime."

"Have the guardians left Naruto?" Nejii demanded, completely ignoring the knocking comment.

In response, the hokage grabbed the scroll and held it up, never taking his eyes off his friends.

Kiba gritted his teeth. "Dang it Naruto! We told you to get them out of here as soon as possible! What part of that didn't you understand?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he studied the frustrated and angry expression on the dog ninja's face. "You ran into Elyon didn't you?"

"More like she appeared out of thin air and slapped me as hard as she possibly could," the fanged young man replied crossing his arms over his chest.

"What about you Neji? Have you seen Cornelia recently?" Naruto asked with a slight grin.

The Hyuga genius scoffed and looked away. "As if."

Their friend let out a loud sigh and did a face palm, making a loud smack as he did so. "You guys are impossible! We finally have the chance to have the girls as part of your lives again and you're running away from it!"

"Hey I don't see you running to sweep Hay Lin off her feet!" Kiba cried.

"I'm working on it!" Naruto muttered.

* * *

><p>"Cornelia, will you slow down?" Will asked as she and Elyon half ran to keep up with the earth guardian's pace.<p>

"Heck no!" the girl replied. "Naruto has been asking for this for the past two days and oh man is he going to get it!"

The three of them were on their way to Hokage's office to "talk" with Naruto about why the treaty had not been signed already and Cornelia was anxious to get there.

"What exactly are you going to do Cornelia?"Elyon asked. "He's the Hokage. You can't just walk into his office and start beating the crap out of him!"

"Oh yes I can and I will!" the blonde cried as she reached Naruto's door. Using her telekinesis powers the door swung open and Cornelia stomped in.

"Naruto you are so-!" She stopped mid sentence and all the color drained from her face when her eyes locked with Neji's pale ones.

It was dead silent for the next few seconds. Kiba's eyebrows had risen in obvious surprise and Naruto couldn't keep the grin off his face to save his life. Will and Elyon appeared seconds after Cornelia did and once they saw the situation, the redhead shot her brother a look before doing a face palm while the queen and dog ninja glared daggers at each other.

Neji, as much as he tried not to, couldn't help but notice that Cornelia was just as beautiful if not more so then she was when he last saw her. But he didn't care about that anymore. At least that's what he told himself.

"Hello Cornelia." The prodigy said breaking the silence. His voice and face were both emotionless and his eyes were cold as he looked at the woman in front of him.

"Hello Neji," the earth guardian replied, just as cold.

"Well look what majestic royal decided to grace us with her presence, no matter how unwelcome it is," Kiba said scathingly at Elyon.

"Really Kiba?" She asked, both annoyed and angered by his attitude. "You're being so childish."

"Okay guys listen," Will said stepping forward. "Neji, Kiba, the girls and I have something to discuss with Naruto. I would appreciate it if the two of you would leave so we could talk."

The two shinobi narrowed their eyes at Will, but did as she asked and left the room. The second the door shut, Cornelia whipped around, reached Naruto's desk in a single stride and punched him as hard as she could sending the poor man to the floor with a large and resounding thud.

Neji paused slightly when he heard the commotion and shook his head. 'That was most likely Cornelia's doing. She always did have a bit of a violent side to her.'

Naruto groaned as he rubbed the side of head. "I know exactly what that was for so I'm not even going to ask."

"We told you to sign the treaty immediately!" the earth guardian shouted. "What part of that didn't get through that thick skull of yours?"

"Dial it down a bit Cornelia," The queen said placing a hand on her friend's arm.

"Naruto have you even read the scroll at all since we gave it to you?" Will asked her brother.

"Nope," he replied instantly.

"And have you sent the other one to Gaara?"

"Not at all."

"May we ask why?" Elyon asked.

"Why do you think?" the hokage replied.

The redhead sighed. "If you're doing all of this just because you want Hay Lin to stay, I already told you that she doesn't belong here Naruto. She has a life back in Heatherfield, we all do. We have families back there too. Do you really think that we would willingly leave that all behind?"

It was silent for a moment. "You, Hay Lin, and Irma have family here too you know," Naruto said softly.

"It's not that simple Naruto," Cornelia said, much quieter than before.

"Oh and it was five years ago?" He demanded. When none of the girls answered him he let out a deep breath. "What if we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" Will asked narrowing her eyes.

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe you kissed Irma," Chouji said shaking his head at his best friend.<p>

Shikamaru scowled. "And I can't believe that you and Ino still won't shut up about it."

The Akimichi Head sighed. "Well you have to admit it wasn't a very smart move."

"I know it wasn't! I just wasn't thinking," the genius replied angrily.

Chouji placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know you've missed Irma buddy, and I know you still love her, but it's best to see what she'll do. Who knows maybe she still cares about you."

"I just don't understand why she left in the first place. There has to be something she's hiding," Shikamaru said.

"Don't do anything reckless Shikamaru. It'll end badly for both you and her, so don't take that risk," Chouji said.

"Well what do you think I should do?"

"Wait and see if she comes looking for you. If she does then talk with her and try to clear this whole mess up." With that Chouji stood up and began to walk away. "I gotta now. Ino needs my help at the shop and if I don't show up soon she'll kill me."

Shikamaru forehead furrowed as he thought about his friend's words. He knew there was another possibility that could happen if he just waited on Irma. She might never come to look for him and if she didn't he wouldn't be able to do anything.

Quite frankly, neither of those possibilities suited Shikamaru, but he didn't really have anything else to work with.

The lazy man let out a sigh. "This whole thing is such a drag."

* * *

><p>"Well Will, what do you say?" Cornelia asked after Naruto had explained his deal to her, Will, and Elyon.<p>

"I'm okay with it," the keeper replied.

The blonde man smiled. "Thanks guys."

The girls nodded before leaving. "So how do you think she's going to react when she hears about this?" the earth guardian asked.

"Knowing her; not good," Will replied.

"Well at least Naruto gave us his word that he would sign it," the blonde woman said. "That way we'll be getting out of here no matter what happens."

Elyon however was thinking about something entirely different. 'Why does Kiba act so cold towards me? I knew that when he found out I was a queen there would be some reaction, but I sure wasn't expecting something like this? There has to be something else going on.'

Determined to find out what Kiba's problem was the queen decided that she would later seek out Hinata and Shino to see if they could shed any light on the situation.

* * *

><p>In the apartments, Taranee glanced at Irma and shook her head. "Are you going to be like this for the rest of the time we're here?"<p>

"I just can't stop thinking about Shikamaru!" the water guardian cried. "Ugh why did that idiot have to kiss me?"

The two guardians were alone as Hay Lin had gone off to Ichiraku's for some ramen and were discussing their love lives. Or former love lives anyway.

"So Taranee have you thought about going to see how Lee is doing?" Irma asked.

The fire guardian sighed. "I don't know what exactly I'm going to do about that. I mostly want to play it safe and hide out here."

Her friend smiled. "You know once you get past the hair, eyebrows, and spandex, Lee's a really sweet guy."

"Yeah I know," Taranee said with a small smile. "It doesn't matter if I want to see him though. He probably doesn't want anything to do with me anymore."

"You don't really believe that do you?" the brunette asked her friend.

"I don't know," The dark skinned girl said. "Lee and I didn't even go on a first date. He just told me that that he wanted to be with me, asked me to be his girlfriend, and then I kissed him. That doesn't even qualify as a freaking relationship!"

"Do you still care about him though?" Irma asked. "I mean I hate that I do, but I still care about Shikamaru and I know Hay Lin still has some issues concerning Naruto, but what about you?"

"Irma this is-" Taranee was cut off by a knock at the door. The two girls looked at each other with panicked looks.

"You go get it," the water guardian said nudging her friend.

"I'm not going to get it, you go get it!" the fire guardian cried.

Another knock came and Irma began to panic.

"What if it's Shikamaru?" Irma asked. "I can't answer it. Taranee you do it please."

Seeing how freaked out her friend really was, the dark haired girl jumped from the couch and went over to open the door. When she saw who it was, her heart may as well have stopped.

"L-Lee?" Taranee stuttered.

"Hello Taranee," the spandex wearing man replied, looking very nervous.

"Bushy brow?" the blue eyed girl asked coming to the door. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I heard that you and the others were back and I wanted to talk with Tarane," Lee explained.

Irma glanced at Taranee as she waited for her friend's answer. After several seconds, the fire guardian nodded. "Okay."

Lee smiled a little and nodded politely to Irma as he and Taranee walked away. The water queen looked after them and shook her head. "Oh man we're screwed."

"I know you must be surprised to see me," the taijutsu master said as the former couple continued their walk.

"Yeah a little," Taranee honestly replied. "What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing. It has been five years after all," he said with a grin.

The girl couldn't help but smile back. "I've been fine. How about yourself?"

"I have been given the opportunity to join the ANBU recently. Neji is an ANBU already," Lee explained.

"Good for you guys," Taranee said. Then she sighed. "Lee, I…I just want to say that I'm sorry about what happened five years ago."

"I am sorry as well."

"And I wanted to thank you for getting me to that medic in time to remove the poison when I was stabbed," she added with a smile.

The green beast smiled in return, trying to ignore the way his heart was beating. The fire guardian had become a lovely young woman over the past five years. She'd gotten slightly taller and her hair was now waist length. He would not deny that he still wanted to be with the girl in front of him, but he was not about to force her if she didn't feel the same.

"Taranee I should tell you that there is no need for you to be uncomfortable around me. I would like for us to be friends again if that is possible," Lee said.

Taranee stopped and looked up at him in amazement. "You really want us to be friends?"

"Yes I do. If you have to leave again soon then I want us to be on better terms with each other this time."

"I would like that very much," the dark skinned girl replied. "Now what would you say to hug?"

Lee smiled and immediately wrapped his arms around Taranee in a friendly embrace. After a few seconds he pulled back and was surprised to see a look of slight confusion on her face.

"Taranee what is the matter?"

"Nothing Lee. Um I should be getting back. Irma's probably wondering what's taking so long. I guess I'll see you later then," Taranee said quickly turning around and leaving the man behind her.

It took Lee all he had to not run after her.

The fire goddess walked away she closed her eyes willing herself to not look back. The second Lee had hugged her she had remembered the night of her first mission and how the shinobi had kept her in a protective embrace for almost the whole night. At the time she had been thrilled to have his arms around her because she had been falling for him and now those emotions were rushing back to her all over again.

'Oh this is special,' she thought sarcastically.

* * *

><p>Hay Lin smiled as she swallowed the last bit of her ramen. 'Man Ichiraku's ramen is without a doubt the best!'<p>

The old man and Ayame had been surprised that she was back, but were glad to see her none the less and had given her a free bowl of ramen.

"Hey Hay," Will said sitting down next to her.

"What are you doing here? I thought you, Elyon, and Cornelia went to see Naruto," the air guardian said.

"We did and he will sign the treaty," the keeper said.

Hay Lin raised her eyebrow in surprise. "He's willingly going to sign it? How hard did Cornelia hit him?"

"We actually made a deal with him," Will explained.

The black haired girl began to feel a little nervous. "What kind of deal?"

The redhead hesitated before she sighed. "He'll only sign the treaty if you talk with him."

_END OF CHAPTER_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"How could you do this to me?" Hay Lin cried for about the millionth time. "How could you tell Naruto that I would talk with him without even asking me first?"

"Because I knew you would say no," Will replied calmly. "Look Hay Lin I made that deal with him yesterday. You have to go see him soon."

"B-but," the girl stammered. "What am I supposed to say to him?"

Irma stood up and went to her best friend. "Hay Lin, look just talk with him. Maybe you'll get some of your issues cleared up with this."

The air guardian narrowed her eyes at her friends. "Alright, Will, Corny, Irma, Ellie, here's a deal for you. I'll talk to Naruto when you guys have talked with Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kiba."

"What?" Will cried.

"Absolutely not!" Cornelia said stubbornly.

"I can't talk with Kiba. He hates me!" the queen said.

Hay Lin shook her head. "If I have to talk with my ex-boyfriend then so do you. Taranee's off the hook because she already talked with Lee."

"Hay Lin this is ridiculous," Irma said. "Look, Will made that deal with Naruto to get us out of here. You can't go demanding that I talk with Shikamaru."

"Well maybe you could get some of your issues cleared up," the black haired girl said, repeating Irma's earlier words.

"Touche," the water guardian scowled in annoyance.

"Look guys all I'm saying is if we want out of this village then all you have to do is talk with the boys," the air guardian said.

It was silent as her friends just sat there, not looking at her or saying anything. Finally Hay Lin shrugged her shoulders. "Fine then, I guess we'll be stuck here for a long time because I refuse to talk with Naruto."

With that the girl walked out of the apartment leaving the other guardians alone. After several seconds, Elyon stood up from her seat and towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Cornelia asked her best friend.

"There's…there's something that I have to do," the queen said before leaving.

When the door closed, the remaining guardians looked at each other before Will let out a big sigh. "Alright ladies, new game plan. We figure out how we're going to freaking talk with the guys!"

* * *

><p>"Is Kiba still angry?" Shino asked Hinata as they stood on one of the many bridges in the village.<p>

His Hyuuga companion sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. I'm worried about him Shino. I mean I knew he was upset before, but I didn't think it was this bad."

"And something tells me things will get worse before they get better," the bug user said. "Elyon looked pretty angry as well. I'm curious to know why."

"That's one of things I came to talk with you guys about."

The friends turned and saw Elyon walking toward them.

"Elyon what are you doing here?" Hinata asked.

"I need to ask you guys some questions. If that's okay that is," the queen said.

"What would you like to know?" Shino asked glancing at her.

"Well the first thing I want to know is why Kiba is so angry with me," Elyon said.

The hooded man took a few steps toward her. "That's a bit complicated."

"Things have been complicated for the last five years," the blonde replied. "You guys are my friends, please tell me."

Hinata and Shino looked at each other before looking back at Elyon. "Shikamaru was the one who told us you were a queen. Hay Lin had told him all about you and the guardians during the battle with the Akatsuki," the heiress said.

"Kiba didn't take the news very well to begin with and was upset that you hadn't told him in the first place," Shino added.

Elyon's forehead furrowed."But why would that make him so upset? It wasn't like I was lying to him."

"He knows that, but he's been treating you this way so it will be easier for him to deal with," Hinata said.

"What will be easier for him to deal with?" The queen asked.

Just as Shino was about to explain, Kiba suddenly appeared with Akamaru by his side. When he saw who his friends were talking to, he stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes narrowed to angry slits. It was the expression that came to his face whenever he saw Elyon.

"What's she doing here?" he asked with a sneer.

Elyon stepped forward and put her hands on her hips. "I came to talk with Shino and Hinata. Is that a crime? Talking with your friends?"

Before the dog ninja could respond Akamaru leapt forward towards Elyon and waggled his tail as he stood in front of her.

"Hey Akamaru. It's good to see you boy," the blonde said, getting down on her knees and scratching the large dog behind his ears, making him pant happily.

Kiba stared at the two of them in surprise and for a few minutes he remembered those days at the training ground when Elyon would run around with Akamaru laughing the whole time. He quickly shook his head. That was the past and there was no point in thinking about it.

"So what did you want to talk with Hinata and Shino about? Kiba asked.

Elyon shot him a glare. "I just wanted to know why you're always so angry around me."

"Why should you care? It's not like you're going to be staying here and anyway, it wasn't their place to tell you anything," the shinobi said glaring at Hinata and Shino who both looked away the first looking very guilty.

"Kiba I don't want there to be bad feelings between us when I leave. I just want to clear the air," Elyon said taking a step in his direction.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Kiba snapped. "You're said it yourself, you're going to be leaving, so what's the point in making nice with us? Just go and leave us be!"

The queen's temper flared instantly. "Fine! I don't know why I even bothered trying to talk with you. You wouldn't have listened to me anyway, you stupid mutt!"

With that Elyon stomped away from the bridge, leaving behind a fuming Kiba, a flustered Hinata, and a frustrated Shino. After she was gone, the bug user turned to his friend.

"You can't keep treating her like this Kiba," he said. "Maybe if you told her the truth things could work out with the two of you."

"I don't need to work things out with her okay!" the dog ninja shouted. "Whatever she and I had, it ended five years ago. Besides even if I did still care about her, it wouldn't matter anyway. She's just going to leave again."

* * *

><p>Elyon fumed as she walked away from Kiba. 'What didn't he want me to find out?' she thought.<p>

"That didn't go well at all did it?"

The queen whipped around and winced when she saw Will leaning against a tree. "I take it you heard that?"

"Every bit," the keeper replied. "I gotta admit though, I'm not surprised."

"What do you mean you're not surprised?"

"No offense or anything Ellie, but I always thought Kiba was way too aggressive and stubborn, so I totally saw his whole attitude thing coming," Will said.

"You're words of support are riveting Will," Elyon said sarcastically.

"Hey come on you know I didn't mean anything negative by it, it's just who Kiba is," the redhead said.

"So why exactly are you here?" the blonde asked.

"I had a feeling you were going to go and find one of your former teammates so I decided to follow you in case you needed backup for anything."

"Yeah well, at least I can tell Hay Lin that I talked to my ex. Nothing came out of it, but she doesn't need to know that," Elyon said. "So are you going to talk to Sasuke."

"Honestly, I don't. I mean he deserted the village and tried to destroy it. I don't even know if I actually knew him at all," by this point Will was standing in front of Elyon and didn't see what she saw. The queen tried to give her signals to stop, but the guardian kept going. "Besides he probably hates me right now. So I really don't want to talk with him."

"Oh really?"

Will's shoulders shot up to her ears and her eyes widened. "Elyon, please tell me that's not who I think it is."

"Yeah sorry I can't. Well gotta go, I'll see you later!" The blonde said, quickly walking away before Will could protest.

Taking a deep breath, the redhead gathered her courage and turned around, keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her.

"Hello Sasuke," she muttered.

Sasuke narrowed her eyes, noticing how she wouldn't look at him. "If you're going to talk to someone, I believe it's polite to look directly at them."

Slowly Will brought her eyes up to his face and she felt her heart almost stop. He had become even more handsome over the years and had gotten taller. His shoulders were broader and his hair had gotten a bit longer as well.

Likewise Sasuke couldn't stop examining the girl in front of him. Her wild, flaming red hair had grown to her waist and for a split second, the Uchiha had a desire to run his fingers through them. His eyes roamed over her body and he arched an eyebrow in appreciation. The clothes she used to wear had hid her figure from view, but in snug white pants and tight pink spaghetti strapped shirt her well defined curves were clearly visible.

Will shuffled awkwardly under Sasuke's gaze bringing his attention back to her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just going to the training grounds," he replied.

The keeper nodded, trying to think of what else to say. If memory served, talking to Sasuke could sometimes be like talking to a brick wall and this was one of those times. If walls could give short and to the point answers that is.

"So how have you been?" She asked.

"I've been fine. I was promoted to jounin 3 years ago," he said, not mentioning ANBU. "And yourself?"

"Pretty good. I've become an author and my first book is going to be published soon," Will replied.

"Congratulations," Sasuke said.

It was silent for several seconds as the two shuffled nervously. Finally Will couldn't take it anymore. "I should go."

Just as she turned around, she felt Sasuke grab her wrist. "Sasuke let go," she said in a dangerous.

"Not until you and I straighten a few things out first," he said tightening his grip. Dimly he noted how this was a repeat of when they were in the exact position in the training grounds five years ago.

Will turned her head to glare at him. "Like what?"

"Why did you leave?" he growled.

"Because I didn't belong here and I still don't," the redhead said.

"What do you mean you don't belong here? You were born here and you have a brother here. What makes you think you don't belong in this village?"

"I wasn't cut out to be a ninja. You saw how the guardians were in the battle with Madara. It was a miracle we got out alive!"

"You just didn't have enough training that's all."

Will shook her head. "This is ridiculous just let me go Sasuke!"

"Forget it," he said through clenched teeth. "Why didn't you say goodbye?"

"I already answered enough of your questions!" The keeper cried.

"Tell me now!" the shinobi demanded.

"Not a chance," she shot back scathingly.

By now Sasuke had lost it. With a low growl in the back of his throat, he yanked on Will's wrist bringing her closer and before she could fight back, he crashed his mouth over hers.

Will struggled to get away, but his grip was too strong. As the kiss continued the girl remembered just how much she had cared about Sasuke. How much she still cared about him. Slowly the keeper wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as the Uchiha's arms wove around her waist and pulled her closer. When the need for oxygen become too great, they broke apart for breath.

'What did I just do?' Will thought, as her mind began to clear. 'I can't believe I just did that!'

Quickly the guardian jumped back away from Sasuke.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"I shouldn't have done that. That was a mistake. Oh man I really shouldn't have done that," Will said putting her head in her hands.

"Will please," the shinobi began reaching for her.

"No, I can't do this. I'm sorry I have to go!" she said running off, leaving a bewildered Sasuke behind her.

As Will ran, she felt hot tears threatening to spill out of her eyes as her emotions raged inside of her. With that one kiss she had realized that she was still in love with Sasuke and she was pretty sure nothing she could do was going to change that.

_END OF CHAPTER_

**W.I.T.C.H. fan: Well guys what do you think? I need to have to give a shout-out to my friend Applesauce18 for helping me with the Will/Sasuke confrontation. I changed it up a little bit, but most of it was from her. Thanks Muse-chan! **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I can't believe we're doing this," Cornelia muttered as she picked up a kunai.

Across the training ground Taranee laughed. "Oh come on. You yourself said you missed training so why not have a little fun while we're here."

"Don't you think somebody will show up?" The earth guardian asked. "I mean I'm surprised Neji and Lee aren't here considering how renowned they are for their training regime."

The fire guardian bit her lip, looking rather guilty. "Um yeah about Neji and Lee…"

"Taranee, Cornelia you made it!" Lee cried happily as he burst into the training ground followed shortly by Neji who stopped dead when he saw the two girls standing there.

"Lee what's going on," the prodigy asked.

"What did you do Taranee!" Cornelia cried glaring at her friend.

Taranee held her hands up. "Okay before you guys get mad at us-"

"Too late," Neji muttered.

"-Lee and I decided that if we can be friends you guys can be too," the girl finished, ignoring Neji's remark.

"Taranee and I figured that it would be good idea to train together like we used to," Lee added with an enthusiastic grin and doing the nice guy pose.

Cornelia and Neji looked up at each other with an eyebrow raised, silently asking the other what he/she thought. Finally they both looked to Lee and Taranee.

"Alright," they said.

The dark haired girl clapped her hands happily. "Sweet! Okay Lee and I will be partners and you two can spar together. Sound good? Great let's do this thing!"

Reluctantly the blonde and the Hyuga walked toward each other while Taranee and Lee ran to the other side of the area.

"So how do you want to do this?" Cornelia asked rubbing her neck.

"I suggest we do it just as we used to. You're probably rusty from not having trained in the past five years," Neji said.

The guardian smirked. "Actually I've been training on Meridian and I've gotten much better. You might have a bit of a challenge on your hands Neji."

The Byakugan wielder raised an eyebrow and Cornelia could have sworn he looked amused. "A challenge it is then."

The girl's eyes widened a fraction before a smile grew on her face. Maybe, just maybe, they could succeed in being friends.

* * *

><p>Irma gulped nervously as she reached the familiar house. She wasn't sure how they would react, but she had to do this. So gathering up her courage she raped on the door three times.<p>

Seconds later the door opened and Irma gave a nervous grin to the woman in front of her. "Hey Yoshino."

"Irma?" Yoshino breathed. When the younger girl nodded a huge grin broke onto Yoshino's face. "Irma!"

Instantly and to the water guardian's surprise she found herself in a strangling hug from the older woman.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you dear," the Nara matriarch said after releasing her. "Oh hold on a minute. Shikaku! Shikaku you'll never believe this. Irma's back!"

"Irma? As in Shikamaru's Irma?" came the shocked sounding voice of the Nara male.

Irma blushed in embarrassment when she heard herself being referred to as Shikamaru's. "Yoshino I-"

"Of course! What other Irma do we know?" Yoshino shouted back to her husband.

"Well Shikamaru will be really happy to see her again."

"I _know_! Isn't it fabulous?"

"Yoshino I'm not staying for very long I just need to ask you something," the girl said clearly flustered.

"Oh of course dear. You'll have to forgive me, I mean it's been so long after all. Have you been to see Shikamaru yet?" the older woman asked.

"I actually came to find out where he lives," Irma explained.

Yoshino nodded and picked up a piece of paper and a pen, quickly writing something on it. "Here's his address. Oh Irma sweetheart, you have no idea, how much that boy has missed you. Did you know he's stopped escorting Miss Temari?"

"No I didn't know that. Why did he stop?" Irma asked.

"Well he said that, as your sister, she reminded him too much of you. He actually didn't leave his room for two whole weeks after you left and barely ate anything. It took months before Ino and Choji were able to get him somewhat back to normal, but I know that boy never stopped loving you and…oh Irma I'm sorry!" Yoshino said upon finally seeing how Irma's face had paled. "I didn't mean to upset you I was just running my mouth again."

"N-no don't worry about," the water queen said brushing her hair out of her eyes and turning to the door. "I'll just be going now."

"You had to chase her out didn't you?" Shikaku said after Irma left, sounding amused.

"You shut up and come help me with lunch!"

As Irma walked away from the Nara's house she tried to get her heartbeat to calm down. 'Shikamaru never stopped loving me? Man as if I wasn't screwed enough already...' Shaking her head the brunette brought her hand up to her neck and held the small necklace tightly. 'I have to do this,' she thought taking a deep breath.

* * *

><p>Sasuke fumed as made his way to Naruto's office. People he passed by quickly jumped out of the way sensing his murderous intent, not wanting to be on the end of the famous Uchiha wrath. Upon coming to his destination, he swung the door open and he stormed in.<p>

"Hey Sasuke what's-" Poor Naruto didn't even get to finish his sentence because Sasuke's fist came smashing straight into his face sending him slamming him against the wall.

"The freak was that for you jerk?" The Hokage shouted.

"You lied to me about Will!" The dark haired man seethed.

"Oh that," Naruto said scratching his neck with a nervous laugh. "Well uh see I only did that because I know you've missed Will so I thought why not try to make things better between you guys."

"The only thing you did was make things worse you idiot!"

"Well at least I got you two to have some sort of conversation with each other. You know that if I hadn't said she wanted to see you, you wouldn't have gone to see her!" Naruto replied. "Don't tell me you didn't want to see her."

"Of course I wanted to see her, but I have no idea what she thinks of me right now," Sasuke said, thinking about the kiss the two of them had shared before she ran off.

"Yeah well I could say the same thing for Hay Lin. Speaking of her, I made a deal with Will that if she wants me to sign the treaty Hay Lin is going to have to talk with me."

"I'll bet she'll be thrilled with that," The Uchiha muttered sarcastically. When Naruto shot him a questioning look he continued. "You know how Hay Lin get's when she's forced to do things against her will. She's probably throwing a fit right now or as much of a fit as a girl like Hay Lin can have anyway. Chances are she's not very happy with you right now."

Naruto frowned as he thought about that. He knew Hay Lin better than anyone and Sasuke was right. Hay Lin probably wasn't happy at all with the deal he made, but it was the only way they both would get any sort of closure.

"I just want to know if she still feels anything for me. If she doesn't I'll let her go," Naruto said.

"What if she does still care about you? What then?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know."

* * *

><p>Cornelia couldn't help, but grin as she dodged another of Neji's attacks. Propelling upwards she almost managed to land a kick in his stomach, but he was faster and grabbed her ankle. She freed it by quickly twisting in mid-air. Doing a quick handspring she pulled out a kunai and threw it at the Hyuga, becoming immensely pleased when it grazed the cloth on his arm.<p>

"You have improved. I'm impressed," Neji said.

"I told you," The earth guardian smirked.

The Byakugan user gave a small smile in return. Cornelia was still as fiery as ever and he saw the gleam in her eyes as they sparred. 'She hasn't changed much,' he thought.

Lee and Taranee both smiled as they watched their friends. It was exactly like it was before. It was just four friends training and having a good time.

"You know I really missed this," Lee said. He and Taranee had long ago abandoned their sparring in favor of watching Neji and Cornelia.

"Missed what?" Taranee asked.

"The four of us spending time together like this. It was lonely without you and Cornelia here," the taijutsu master said. "I just wish that you and I…" He abruptly stopped talking before his thoughts could slip out.

"What about you and I?" the fire girl asked, not even daring to read his mind in fear of what she would hear.

"It was nothing. I was just babbling," Lee said, not meeting the girl's eyes.

Taranee nodded slowly and turned her head away from him. She was very able to guess what he had been about to say, as it was exactly what she had been thinking. Taranee had figured out earlier that Lee still had feelings for her, but was being a gentleman and giving her what he thought she would like best instead of being selfish. That characteristic was one of the reasons she had fallen for him in the first place.

Clenching her fists she quickly turned her attention back to Neji and Cornelia. What happened next made Lee and Taranee's jaws drop.

While trying to dodge an attack, Cornelia slipped and fell backwards. Trying to keep herself upright she grabbed onto Neji, but all that did was bring him down with her. When the blonde hit the ground her head came up, just as Neji's came down, fusing their mouths together.

The Hyuga prodigy quickly tore his mouth from hers and stood up. Remembering his manners, he offered Cornelia his hand, but she brushed it away and stood up, brushing the dirt off her clothes.

"I think I've had enough training for now. Taranee are you coming with me, or staying?" She asked her friend.

Neji and Lee were surprised at how calm she appeared, but Taranee could tell that as soon as they were out of earshot, Cornelia was going to have an all out freak out.

"I'll come with you," the dark skinned girl said. "Bye Lee, bye Neji. See you guys later!"

As the two men watched the girls go Lee turned to Neji. "Well that was...awkward."

"You're telling me," Neji replied. "I will never understand that woman."

As he watched Cornelia walked away, the genius began to contemplate about the relationship the two had once had. Theirs had been without a doubt the most dramatic when compared to their friends'. Their friendship had never been all that stable to begin with either as they both drove each other up the wall.

In fact, Cornelia still drove Neji up the will.

It was infuriating for Neji to be so confused and helpless in this kind of situation. He was used to being in control and being able to handle anything that came his way. His feelings for Cornelia however, were something he wasn't sure he could handle and he knew dang well that he couldn't control them. All Neji knew was that if Naruto didn't sign that treaty and soon, he was probably going to do something he knew he would regret.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru lay on his bed trying to think of a way that he could get out of doing paperwork for the day when a knock echoed through his apartment. Too lazy to get up, the genius just closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, hoping the person would go away. When he heard the door open he didn't think too much of it.<p>

'Probably just Ino or Choji dropping something off for me,' Shikamaru thought.

"I know you're not asleep Shikamaru."

The second he registered who had just spoken the cloud watcher shot up and saw Irma standing in the doorway of his room, looking nervous.

"What are you doing here?" He asked hopping off of his bed.

"I'm here because we need to sort a few things out," Irma said.

"Alright."

"But I have two rules for you," the water girl said holding up two fingers. "Number 1: No touching. Number 2: Absolutely no kissing!"

'I knew she was going to say something about that,' Shikamaru thought with a wince. 'So troublesome.'

_END OF CHAPTER_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

In her apartment, Hay Lin looked up curiously at Will for what must have been the fifteenth time. The keeper had started banging her head against the wall about five minutes ago and kept muttering the words "I am an idiot."

"You know if you keep banging your head like that, it could cause brain damage," the air guardian said, hoping it would make Will stop. "You've been like this for a few hours now, what exactly happened.

With her head leaned against the wall, the redhead groaned. "I freaking kissed Sasuke!"

"You what?" Hay Lin cried in shock. "Why? When?"

"I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did. He found me and Elyon talking and the second she saw him Elyon ditched me as fast as she possibly could. Then Sasuke started asking me questions, I got mad, and when I started to leave he kissed me. And I kissed him back!"

"Oh boy," the dark haired girl said. "What possessed you to kiss him back?"

When Will said nothing in response, Hay Lin figured it out. "You still love Sasuke don't you?"

"Yes," the leader said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Before Hay Lin could say anything else, Cornelia and Taranee burst into the apartment. Without saying a word to her friends, the earth guardian fell face first onto the couch, burying her face in a pillow.

Will looked at Taranee with an eyebrow raised. "Problems?"

"We were training with Lee and Neji," Cornelia said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"It wasn't anything to big. Where's Elyon?" The fire guardian asked.

"She's probably walking around the village cooling off steam after her argument with Kiba earlier," the keeper said.

"She talked with Kiba?" The blonde asked turning her head to look at her friends.

"Yep. Irma went off to talk with Shikamaru and Will over here is going nuts after her little, um, moment with Sasuke," the air guardian giggled.

Will was about to glare at Hay Lin when she realized something very important, which resulted in her giving a cat like grin. "Oh Hay Lin, I hope you realize that now you're the only one who has to talk with her ex since the rest of us have already done it."

Taranee and Cornelia's heads all snapped toward the petite guardian whose eyes had widened. "Oh crap!"

Within the space of three seconds Will, Taranee, and Cornelia grabbed Hay Lin and threw her out the door.

"You are not allowed back in until you have talked with Naruto!" Cornelia cried.

"Why do I have to do it now?" Hay Lin asked, desperate to avoid Naruto even longer.

"The sooner you talk with him the sooner we get out of here!" Taranee replied.

"So get on it!" Will added, before the door was slammed shut, leaving Hay Lin outside with no choice, but to go see Naruto.

"Oh dang it!" The black haired girl cried, slapping her forehead.

* * *

><p>Elyon tapped her foot wondering when the heck Hinata would arrive. After leaving Will to face Sasuke, she had gone back to where her former teammates were and had gotten Hinata's attention. The queen had then signaled for the heiress to meet her at Ichiraku's so they could talk and the girl had nodded in agreement. It was only a matter of time now before Elyon figured out what was making Kiba so irritable around her.<p>

"Elyon, sorry it took me so long to get here," Hinata said as she sat down next to her friend.

"I'm just glad you showed up period," the blonde said. "After Kiba chewed you and Shino out earlier, I was afraid you wouldn't talk to me again."

The Hyuuga girl looked her friend straight in the eye. "I know Kiba won't be happy that I told you this, but I think you have a right to know why he's acting so cold around you."

"I'm listening," the queen said leaning a little closer.

Hinata took a deep breath before beginning her explanation. "As Shino and I told you before, Shikamaru told us everything about you and Kiba took it hard and it wasn't because you hadn't told him."

Elyon blinked in surprise. "Wait he wasn't upset that I hadn't told him?"

"Well he was, but that's not the main reason. You see, Kiba thinks that with you being a queen it will prevent…" she trailed off. "I'm not quite sure you want to hear this, considering the circumstances."

"Hinata please," the blonde said, taking her friend's hand in her own. "You're the only one I can really talk to around here. Please tell me. What does Kiba think that my status will prevent?"

"He thinks that it will prevent him from being with you," Hinata finally admitted.

"What?" Elyon breathed her eyes wide and her heart starting to beat faster.

"Kiba's afraid that you'll have to marry someone with a high status like yours and even if you don't he thinks that since he isn't royalty he won't be allowed to be with you. He's trying to convince himself that he doesn't care about you, so he won't get hurt. But Elyon trust me when I tell you that he does still care about you, more than you know," the violet haired young woman said.

At this point, Elyon was pretty sure her heart was going to explode from its rapid beating and she had difficulty breathing. That explained everything. Kiba was calling her by some sort of title, however mockingly, and always referring to himself as being a peasant, all the while displaying cruelty towards her in an attempt to hide how he really felt.

"I-I have to go," The blue eyed woman said quickly standing up.

"Where are you going?" Hinata asked.

Elyon hesitated before coming to a conclusion. "I have to go talk to Kiba," she said running off to go find the dog ninja.

Watching her friend leave Hinata smiled to herself. 'Well it's about time.'

* * *

><p>'This is awkward,' Shikamaru thought rubbing the back of his neck.<p>

He and Irma were both sitting on the couch, him on one end, her on the other and Shikamaru didn't miss the way she was squirming. He hated the fact that she was uncomfortable in his presence and he felt like an idiot for having kissed her.

Figuring that she wasn't going to start the conversation he decided that it was up to him. "So what do you-"

"Why did you kiss me?" Irma blurted out suddenly.

"Huh?" Shikamaru said his eyes widening in surprise. That was certainly not the type of question he had been expecting.

A deep blush appeared on the young woman's face. "Why did you kiss me?" She repeated in a much softer voice.

"I-I uh," the supposed genius stammered trying to get his thoughts back in order.

Irma buried her face in her hands. "Oh man, why did I just blurt that out? I'm sorry Shikamaru, this was so not how I wanted this conversation to go."

"Well how you were expecting it to go?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know! I was hoping for some sort of closure if nothing else," the young woman replied. While she spoke her hand had unconsciously began to play with her necklace as it usually did. When she realized what she was doing Irma quickly tried to hide it, but the lazy man saw it.

Breaking the first rule, he reached over and grabbed Irma's wrist feeling her flinch automatically at his touch, while he kept his eyes on the small blue stone.

"That's the necklace I gave you at the Christmas party," he said softly, mostly to himself. "I thought you would have gotten rid of it."

"I guess it was just too pretty," Irma said in an attempt to make the atmosphere a little bit lighter.

Shikamaru lifted his gaze from the necklace to her eyes and the water guardian felt a shiver run down her spine when she saw the several different emotions in his dark eyes.

"You're not the only one who hasn't been able to get rid of something," he said softly, pulling something out of his pocket. When he opened his hand Irma could barely breathe at the sight of the silver ring in Shikamaru's palm.

"I thought I lost that," she mumbled.

"I found it just after you had been taken by the Akatsuki. I was going to give it back to you after I came home from the Sand Village, but you were already gone by then," he said. He felt his chest tighten at the memory of the pain he had went through finding out she had left him.

Irma swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to keep tears from forming in her eyes. "Shikamaru I-"

"No you don't have to say anything. I'm sorry that I brought that up," Shikamaru said looking away from her.

"You never answered my question," Irma said after several seconds of silence. "Why did you kiss me?"

"Why do you think I did?" the shinobi said, still not looking at her.

The guardian took a shaky breath. "You know I stopped by your mother's house to find out where you lived." She noticed the way Shikamaru's shoulder's tensed at her words, but she continued. "Yoshino told me that you had never stopped…loving me."

Shikamaru still didn't look at her. "Irma-"

"Is that true Shikamaru? Before I left did you really love me?"

Finally the genius looked up and he could see the tears in her big blue eyes. "Do you think that I loved you?"

"…yes," Irma whispered looking down at her hands.

Hooking a finger under her chin Shikamaru brought her head up so she was looking directly at him. "Then answer something for me now. Do you still love me?" he asked, his heart hammering as he thought of what she might say.

'How does this man have so much power over me?' Irma thought, almost melting at his familiar touch. She so badly wanted to tell him how she felt, but knew that even if she did, nothing could ever come of it. "Please, Shikamaru don't-"

"Tell me, please. I have to know."

"I…I can't!" the girl cried jumping up and running out the door before Shikamaru could even react.

Seconds after she left, the man clenched his fists tightly, his emotions jumbling inside of him. Angrily he stood up and slammed his fist into the wall leaving a large hole in the wood. At this point 'troublesome' didn't even begin to cover what he thought of his current situation.

* * *

><p>Hay Lin gulped as she stood in front of the door to Naruto's office and tried to resist the almost overwhelming urge to take off running.<p>

'No I can't back out,' she thought to herself. 'The others already held up their end of the deal and now I have to do my part.'

Despite the confident thoughts, she was worried about how this would go. Would he let her talk and be a gentleman or would he be like Shikamaru and Sasuke had been with Irma and Will and kiss her. Unfortunately for her, the latter was most likely.

After standing in front of the door for about five more minutes, Hay Lin decided that enough was enough. With that thought in mind the air guardian quickly opened the door before she could chicken out.

Naruto was writing something and didn't look up to see who had entered the room. "For the last time Konohamaru, I am not interested in seeing how you improved the Sexy Jutsu!"

'Sexy Jutsu?' Hay Lin thought raising an eyebrow. "You know Naruto that's not exactly how I imagined this conversation starting."

The young Hokage's head shot up. "Hay Lin."

"Hi Naruto."

_END OF CHAPTER_

**Alrighty everyone so I have an announcement to make. Recently I have been thinking about how very few Naruto/W.I.T.C.H. crossovers there are so I have a challenge for all of you readers. I challenge you guys to write an original Naruto/W.I.T.C.H. crossover story. It can be anything you want it to be, whether it's related to my stories or completely unrelated to my stories. It can be a one-shot or a chapter story, song-fic, parody of a movie, etc. It can be AU and have any of the Naruto/W.I.T.C.H. pairings you want in it. Basically it will be anything you want it to be. So who's up for the challenge?**


	10. Chapter 10

**W.I.T.C.H. fan: Hey guys sorry for the update delay, but with school, rehearsing for the play I'm in, and having a case of writer's block, it was kinda hard to find inspiration. But hopefully this chapter will make it up to you. And just a heads up there will be some fluff coming your way! **

Chapter 10

"So are you okay after what happened with Neji?" Taranee asked Cornelia.

"Honestly I'm not sure how I am right now," the blonde replied.

"What's up?"

"Well that kiss reminded me of Neji and mine's first kiss under the mistletoe at that Christmas party. And that was when I began to fall for him in the first place. You remember that dream I had that night," the earth guardian said.

"So what you're saying is that your feelings for him are coming back?" Taranee asked.

Cornelia ran a hand through her hair. "I don't think they ever left. I was just too stubborn to admit it. But I'm not the only one falling back in love with my ex, am I Tara?"

The dark skinned girl flushed. "I-I uh-"

"Oh don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been looking at Lee. It's obvious that you still love him. Well it's obvious to everyone, but Lee."

Taranee groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Well what are we going to do about this?"

"I think that we should just wait and see what happens after Hay Lin talks with Naruto," Cornelia suggested. "That'll probably be the best way to go. Unless you want to go talk with them before then anyway."

"Why are we the ones who have to deal with all the drama?" the fire guardian asked.

"Hey you can't talk about drama. You make a fool of yourself by being a brat around the guy you love when you think he's is involved with another girl and then we'll talk!"

"You got me there," Taranee said with a giggle. "Seriously though, I know you can't want to wait until after Hay Lin gets back. So what do you really want to do about this?"

Cornelia sighed and folded her legs underneath her on the couch. "I know what I want to do, but it has two very different outcomes."

"And those are?"

"On one hand, things between me and Neji go up in flames and we both end up burned. On the other hand things could turn out well…pretty good. Unfortunately option number 1 is more probable," the blonde said.

Taranee rubbed her head feeling a headache coming on. "And to think we thought this whole mission was going to be simple."

"And now it's turning into something we can barely handle," Cornelia added. "I guess the best thing we can do now is to wait and see what happens."

* * *

><p>"You know I was afraid you wouldn't come," Naruto said as Hay Lin sat down in front of him. "I thought you would be too mad at me."<p>

"I admit that I was a little mad, but we needed to clear the air," Hay Lin said. "I know this might be a stupid question, but where do you want to start?"

"Well you could tell me how you've been these past few years," the Hokage said with a friendly smile.

"I've been fine," the black haired girl said a little surprised that that was his first question. "I've started working as an intern for a fashion magazine."

"Sounds cool," Naruto said.

Hay Lin raised an eyebrow before smirking. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?"

The man rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. "Not really, no."

"So what about you? Is being Hokage everything you thought it would be?" the guardian asked.

"Everything and more. The day I became Hokage was one of the best days of my life! Believe it!"

"I'll bet it was. I can't imagine what it must be like to have all your dreams come true," Hay Lin said with a large smile. "You know even after I left I knew you would become the Hokage."

Naruto was about to respond when he suddenly got a mischievous look on his face.

'Oh no what is he thinking,' The air queen thought, her body preparing to bolt the second the chance arose.

"Have you heard about the festival tonight Hay Lin?" he asked.

"Festival?"

"Yeah it's a big party that goes on every year and I as Hokage, have to have a date. Unfortunately I do not so I maybe you could come with me."

Hay Lin's eyes had gotten very wide the second Naruto said the word 'date' and she looked nervous. "Me? Go with you? On a date?"

"Hold on Hay Lin, don't be so worried. Look this won't be like a romantic date or anything. It'll be more of a 'just friends' kind of thing. Besides do you know how embarrassing it would be to show up to the festival alone? Please Hay Lin, I'm desperate."

The girl mulled over his words. 'Just friends? Well that doesn't sound too bad. And it is just for one night.' She sighed. "Okay I'll go with you."

Naruto smiled widely. "Great! Thanks so much Hay Lin. And to make it up to you I'll sign the treaty first thing tomorrow!"

"So what exactly will I have to wear?" Hay Lin asked.

"Uh it's kind of a more formal thing. If you don't have anything, you could always ask Ino. I'm positive she'll have something for you in that monster she calls a closet," the blonde man said with a laugh.

Before Hay Lin could respond Konoharmaru, Moegi and Udon burst into the room. "Hey boss!" They all greeted enthusiastically.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

"We came to ask you something for a news article we're working on," Udon replied.

"Another news article?" The Hokage asked in disbelief. "Sheesh how many have you twerps done so far?"

"Well I'll just be going now," Hay Lin said standing up and walking to the door.

"Okay. Meet me here at 7 tonight for the festival," Naruto called after her.

"Alright," the girl said, just before closing the door behind her.

After a few seconds Konohamaru smirked widely. "Alright way to go boss! You got her in the palm of your hand now!"

Naruto smirked and put his hands behind his head. "I'm must lucky she even showed up. Have you guys told the others?"

Moegi nodded. "We just got back from doing that. Ino, TenTen, and Hinata are in."

"Chouji and Shino are in too," Udon added.

"And so are Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai," Konohamaru finished. "And they all promised they wouldn't tell the other guys anything."

The young Hokage smirked. 'This is gonna be one heck of a night!'

As Hay Lin walked away she couldn't believe what she had just agreed to. 'Why, why did I say yes. Oh man Will, Irma, and Cornelia are going to kill me for sure this time. How am I even going to tell them about this!'

* * *

><p>Elyon let out a frustrated sigh as she walked back into her apartment. Operation confront Kiba had not been so successful. She hadn't been able to find him anywhere, the only place she hadn't looked was his house and she was pretty sure if she went there it would end badly.<p>

'If I ever want to talk with him it has to be either today or tomorrow. Hay Lin's gone to talk with Naruto and if everything goes well then the treaty will be signed soon and I'll have to leave. Why did Kiba have to cause this mess in the first place?'

When she walked inside she saw Will and Irma sitting on the couch. They both looked just as frustrated as Elyon did and there were no signs of that changing anytime soon.

Plopping down next to her friends the queen gave a deep sigh. "You were right, Irma. We're screwed."

Irma didn't even make a comment, still shaken from her encounter with Shikamaru.

"This is not how I wanted this mission to go," The redhead guardian said. "I just wish there was some way that we could talk to the guys without it turning into an argument."

Before Irma or Elyon could reply, Hay Lin walked in.

"Whoa you're back already?" the short blonde asked in surprise.

"Did something go wrong?" Will asked.

"Is Naruto signing the treaty soon?" Irma put in.

Hay Lin held up her hands. "Whoa whoa, one at a time guys. Don't worry everything went find. Naruto's going to sign the treaty first thing tomorrow morning. There's one little thing though."

"What?" her three friends asked in apprehension.

The air guardian took a deep breath and explained to them about her "just friends" date with Naruto that night at the festival.

The water guardian's head fell backward and she slapped her forehead. "I cannot believe you actually agreed to that."

Will who had been quiet throughout Hay Lin's explanation, suddenly had a huge Cheshire cat grin on her face. "This is perfect! Ladies we're all going to the festival tonight!"

Irma, Elyon, and Hay Lin looked at the keeper like she had sprouted two extra heads. "Say what?" they asked in perfect synch.

The guardian leader nodded vigorously. "Think about it. Whenever we've tried to talk to the guys alone it ends in disaster. If there's a lot of people around then maybe we can all stay civil with each other. I know that the guys probably won't want to cause a scene so this is perfect!" Jumping up she continued on her rampage. "Alright, first we go and tell Cornelia and Taranee the new game plan. Then we're going to go see Ino."

"Why Ino?" Irma asked.

"Well she has to have some stuff we could wear tonight," Will replied.

"Why would that be important?" Hay Lin asked.

Will let out a laugh. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I think we should all look absolutely fabulous. If it's our last night in the village, then we're going out with a bang gosh dang it!" she exclaimed running out the door.

There were several seconds of silence as Irma, Elyon, and Hay Lin processed what had just happened.

"Well she's lost it," the water queen said.

"Oh yeah," the air guardian and the queen agreed.

* * *

><p>Across the village in her flower shop, Ino clapped her hands in utter delight. "This is going to fabulous!" she squealed.<p>

Sitting next to her, TenTen laughed. "I know right. I still can't believe Naruto came up with this whole plan by himself."

Kurenai smirked. "Hopefully they show up soon. I could use a little excitement around here."

"I can't believe we're doing this," Hinata said with a giggle.

"I just hope the guys don't find out about our part in all this because if they do we're dead," the weapons mistress pointed out.

The spunky blonde scoffed. "Oh please, honey, when this is over they will be singing our praises!"

Their former sensei glanced up and her smirk grew. "Ladies, time to go to work."

Seconds after the words left her mouth, the door flew open and in walked the guardians and Queen Elyon.

"Hey what are you guys doing here?" Ino asked, acting ignorant.

"We need your help to find some clothes to wear for the festival tonight," Cornelia said.

TenTen arched an eyebrow. "You guys are going to the festival?"

"Reluctantly," Taranee said glaring at Will.

The redhead ignored her dark skinned friend. "Well Ino will you help us out."

"I would love to," the purple ninja said. "I'm positive I'll have something for each of you."

"We can help too if you would like," Hinata suggested. "TenTen and I can do your hair and Kurenai sensai can do your make-up."

"Sounds good," Irma said.

"Alright then let's just go upstairs and start getting you girls ready. We only have four hours till the festival after all."

As they all made their way upstairs W.I.T.C.H. and Elyon completely missed the triumphant smiles that were passed between Ino, Kurenai, Hinata, and TenTen.

* * *

><p>"THEY'RE WHAT?" Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Lee all shouted.<p>

It was four hours later and the five of them, plus Naruto, Chouji, and Shino were all gathered outside the Hokage monument to go to the festival and Chouji had just informed them that Ino had told him that six certain girls would be joining them shortly.

While his friends were shocked, Naruto was having a very hard time keeping the smirk off his face. 'Man Hay Lin coming was a long shot, but all six of them? This worked out better than I thought it would!"

"Hello my friends!" Ino greeted loudly as she appeared out of nowhere, throwing her arms around her husband in a hug.

"There you are. I was worried you wouldn't make it on time," the Akimichi head grinned.

"Actually I wanted to arrive fashionably late, but the latest members to your group insisted that we come on time," his wife replied.

"So where are those girls anyway?" Sasuke asked, not at all happy with how this night was turning out.

"Oh a little impatient to see Will are we?" the blonde woman asked with a smirk.

Her only response was a glare, but she shrugged it off. "Never fear my friends I just wanted to present them properly. So without further ado, I give you the Guardians and Queen Elyon!" she exclaimed gesturing towards the stairs.

When the guys followed her gaze, they were not expecting the sight that greeted them and it took most of their self control to keep their jaws from dropping. The six women in front of them were absolutely gorgeous and the men had to quickly look away from them as they approached.

Naruto was the only one who smiled and waved at them. "You guys look fantastic!" he cried. "I barely recognized you."

They smiled halfheartedly at Naruto's compliment, nerves rattling around in their stomachs. This was the first time that they were all seeing each other again and it was quickly becoming, was it usually was this days, awkward.

"Well now that we're all here why don't we head towards the festival now? After all the Hokage can't be late to things like this," Ino said in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," said hokage replied offering his arm to Hay Lin, who hesitantly hooked her arm with his.

It was almost completely silent as they made their way towards the festival. Ino, Chouji, Naruto, and Hay Lin tried to get a conversation going, but nothing had worked. As they continued on their way, all of them were sure of one thing.

It was going to be a very interesting night.

_END OF CHAPTER_


	11. Chapter 11

**W.I.T.C.H. FAN: Hey guys. I am sooooooo sorry for the long wait, and I'm sure most of you want to hang me. Hopefully this very very long chapter will put me back in your good graces. ENJOY!**

Chapter 11

Will quickly glanced around at the people gathered at the festival and saw the curious looks on their faces when they saw the Hokage and his best shinobi walking in with six strangers. The fact that people were staring didn't do much to help her confidence, but she had to say what she had come to say now or else it would never happen.

"Guys we need to establish something really quick," she said stepping in front of everyone.

"And what might that be?" Sasuke asked.

Will shot a quick, annoyed glance at him. "It's the fact that you guys need to understand we don't want to fight with you tonight. This is the guardian's last night in the village and we don't want it to end badly. So for this one night could we just forget all the awkwardness and just be friends?"

It was quiet as the men contemplated the request. Naruto was the first one to speak. "That's fine with me."

"Same here," Lee agreed.

"I'm in too," Shikamaru said.

Neji nodded his agreement, as did Sasuke and Kiba, though they did it rather reluctantly.

The guardians all breathed a sigh of relief and they allowed themselves to begin to relax. Maybe, just maybe they could make it through the night.

"Well now that that's out of the way, I say we all go party," Ino cried grabbing Choji by the hand and dragging him off.

Naruto laughed. "I couldn't agree more with her." With a smile he offered Hay Lin his hand. "Shall we dance my lady?"

Hay Lin blushed and let out a small giggle as she took Naruto's hand and they took off. Taranee and Lee soon went to do their own thing almost immediately after them and their remaining friends decided to spilt up too. Before they did however, Neji, shot Shikamaru, Kiba, and Sasuke a look that clearly said 'Don't screw this up!'

As Neji and Cornelia left to find something to do, Irma went over to Ino and Choji, with Shikamaru right behind her, and Will and Sasuke left right after them, leaving Elyon and Kiba alone.

The dog ninja couldn't help but examine Elyon. Her long blonde hair was out of the usual braids and flowed down almost to her ankles, in soft waves, and her long white silk strapless dress hugged the curves at her waist. Even Kiba couldn't deny how beautiful she looked. He quickly snapped out of it before Elyon could catch him looking at her. He didn't really like being in this situation, but he could keep his smart mouth comments in check for one night.

"This festival looks like it should be fun," the queen said, trying to make small talk.

"It is when you're little, but the older you get the more boring it becomes," Kiba said. "I mean they do the same things every freaking year. The only thing that really changes each year is the music."

"You came to these festivals when you were little?" Elyon asked.

"Hana made me come."

The blonde smiled. "I remember Hana. I can totally see her dragging you to these things."

"Well I'm sure the parties you went to when you were a kid were much more entertaining than this, considering you grew up a princess after all," he replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of his tone. He failed miserably.

To Kiba's surprise, Elyon didn't shoot a comeback at him, but gave a small laugh. "Oh I went to parties alright, but not royal ones."

The dog ninja raised an eyebrow in confusion and the girl let out a breath. "My parents died when I was still a newborn and my tyrant older brother took over the throne. Members of the rebellion against him took me away from my home and hid me in another world. The same one where Will, Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, and Taranee lived. I didn't even know I was princess till I was 13 and even then I still missed out on being a princess, because I became queen a few months later."

During all of these Kiba was silent as he processed what he was hearing. Finally he rubbed the back of his neck. "Great now I feel like a jerk for making all those comments about you being royal."

Elyon smiled and placed a hand on his arm. "Don't worry about it. You had a right to be angry with me for keeping that from you."

When she said that, Kiba wanted so badly to hug her and tell her how he felt, but fear of rejection kept him back. He didn't know whether or not Elyon still felt anything for him after the way he had acted. So instead he forced a smile.

"Come on, let's see if we can find something fun to do around here."

* * *

><p>"So I heard you're an ANBU member now," Cornelia said as she and Neji walked around. "That must be exciting."<p>

"Yes, but it can be a pain when you're a captain," the prodigy replied. "I assume that being a guardian is just as exciting?"

"I wish," the earth guardian sighed. "We haven't really done much for the past two years so I haven't really been able to use my powers."

"Tsunade mentioned that one of the powers you had was the ability to move objects with your mind," Neji said. Then he turned to Cornelia with a small knowing smirk on his face. "And I have the nagging suspicion that you used that power frequently whenever we sparred to try and get the best of me."

The blonde blushed and laughed. "Guilty as charged I'm afraid."

The Hyuga smiled as Cornelia laughed. It had been so long since he'd seen her smile and laugh and he felt a pang in his chest knowing it would probably be the last time he saw it again. His eyes slowly looked over her appearance. Wearing a blue silk dress, the same color as her eyes, with her long blonde hair cascading down her back, Cornelia looked as beautiful as ever.

"You know Neji, I can't believe that we haven't started fighting," the earth guardian said. "I know for a fact that Taranee thought we would."

"Why would she think that?" Neji asked.

"Well you have to admit that out of all of our friends we fought the most.""

The genius shot her a teasing look. "And who may I ask was the one responsible for most of that fighting?"

Cornelia blushed again and gave him a half hearted glare. "Shut up Hyuga!"

Neji only smiled at her in response and the blonde felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. 'Why does this man have to be so gorgeous?' She thought.

The moment was broken by the sound of very loud laughing. Looking around they saw Lee and Taranee in the middle of the crowd dancing. The green beast was repeatedly lifting Taranee into the air and spinning her around causing the guardian to laugh hysterically.

"Well they're having a good time," Neji said with a slight laugh.

"Lee hasn't changed much has he?" Cornelia asked trying to contain her own laughter.

The prodigy smiled again. "No he has not."

* * *

><p>Naruto couldn't stop from glancing down at Hay Lin again. The girl hadn't let go of his arm the second they had walked in and he was fairly certain that it had to do from the curious and spiteful looks she was receiving from his fan girls. He was just thankful that the fact he had a date this year kept them from bugging him.<p>

"Ah hello Lord Hokage," an elder said as he made his way over to them.

"Hello," Naruto greeted. Out of the corner of his mouth he whispered to Hay Lin. "I can't remember most of the elders names because they look so much alike."

The air guardian bit her lip to keep from laughing and Naruto smiled, pleased that he had eased her discomfort somewhat.

"My, my Lord Hokage," the elder said once he was standing in front of the two. "I must say you're lady friend here is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. You're a lucky man."

Hay Lin cheeks turned a bright pink at the man's words and she looked down embarrassed. Naruto noticed and smiled brightly. "Hey don't be embarrassed Hay Lin. He's right after all you are the most beautiful woman here. "

The dark haired girl looked up and smiled brightly at Naruto making it his turn to blush a little. The elder seeing their attention was otherwise occupied left leaving the two alone. The blonde's blush deepened as he looked at Hay Lin's face. It had been so long since he had seen those big brown eyes and wanted to just stand there and look at them for the rest of the night. Unfortunately she probably didn't care about him that way anymore.

"Look Hay Lin, I want to apologize if any of this is making you uncomfortable, I just-"

"Hey it's okay," Hay Lin interrupted putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's just a little weird seeing everybody again after so long. Especially Sasuke, who I still can't believe is my cousin."

"Yeah, it's like me and Will being brother and sister. It's so bizarre," Naruto agreed.

"Speaking of brothers and sisters, Irma doesn't want any confrontation with hers. What did you do with the treaty for Gaara?"

"I sent it by messenger hawk earlier today with a note telling him to just sign it and not ask questions so hopefully it will be back in the early morning," the blonde Hokage replied.

Hay Lin breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Naruto." Then the air guardian quickly reached up and kissed Naruto swiftly on the cheek leaving him wide eyed.

* * *

><p>Will smiled as she watched her brother and friend talking. It had been a long time since she had seen Hay Lin really smile with her eyes like she just had when talking with Naruto.<p>

"Have you missed him?" Sasuke asked behind her.

The redhead's smile faded and she nodded her head without facing the Uchiha. "Yeah I missed Naruto. It's good to see that his dream came true and that he's happy."

The young man's eyes narrowed. "Are you happy?"

"I don't see why I shouldn't be. I have my friends and my book is about to be published. Everything is going the way I want it," the keeper replied, finally turning around to face him.

Sasuke was silent as he looked at her and Will felt a shiver run down her spin at the intensity of it. After several seconds of silence he finally spoke. "Just because things are going the way you want them to, that doesn't make you happy. I should know what better than anyone."

"You know what everyone has been asking us questions, but I have one for you Sasuke," the keeper said. "Why didn't you tell me that you had once tried to destroy the village?"

"I didn't want you to think I was some kind of monster," the Uchiha replied quietly. "But even though I didn't tell you about that, everything that I ever said to you was the truth. What we had wasn't a lie."

Feeling her heart start to pound Will quickly turned around so her back was once more to the Uchiha. "Good to know. And to answer your question Sasuke, yes I'm happy. I have everything I could possibly want," she said.

"I see," was all Sasuke said in response.

* * *

><p>"Ugh why can't they add something fun to this festival?" Ino cried throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.<p>

"It's not like the people in charge of this thing live to serve only you, Ino," Irma replied with a cheeky grin. She had decided to stay with Ino and Chouji to avoid any awkwardness with Shikamaru and so far it had gone pretty well and the shadow ninja had stayed on his best behavior.

Ino shot a playful glare at Irma. "Oh like you aren't bored to death?"

The water guardian put her hands on her hips. "Honey you have no reason to be bored when you're with me. I'm the life of any party."

The blonde arched a delicate eyebrow and looked around the party around her. So far only a small group of people were on the dance floor and the rest were just wandering around trying to find something to do. "Well you've certainly done a great job with this party," she said sarcastically.

"Ha ha that's very funny Ino," Irma said with a smirk.

Choji shook his head in amusement as the two women continued to tease each other. 'Irma hasn't changed at all I see.' Glancing at Shikamaru he gently nudged his friend. "How're you doing?"

"I don't know how I'm going to make through the night without saying something stupid," the genius replied quietly so Irma and Ino wouldn't hear. "Just look at her Choji. How am I supposed to let her go tonight?"

The husky man put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. "It's like you always say Shikamaru, what's meant to happen will. We'll just have to wait and see."

Shikamaru sighed. "I know you're trying to help, but honestly, that didn't really do much for me."

Choji shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Suddenly Ino squealed with a delight as a new song began playing. "Oh I love this song! It's the most romantic song I've ever heard!"

'A romantic song?' Irma thought her smile fading. 'Well that's just great!'

"Oh Irma you'll love this, it's just so cute. You have to listen to it!" Ino cried as a male singer began the song.

_Waiting here underneath your window_

_Hoping for some kind of sign_

_Every move, every tiny gesture_

_Only proves that you're not mine_

'Oh you've got to be kidding me,' Shikamaru thought with a groan. He dared a glance at Irma and saw her listening to the song like Ino had demanded, but there wasn't even a hint of any emotion on her face. 'What a drag.'

* * *

><p>Across the room Kiba, who had nothing better to do then listen to the song, glanced at Elyon as she brushed hair out of her eyes and shook his head. There was no way a poor ninja like him could hope of being with a beautiful young royal.<p>

_I could write you a thousand love songs_

_Search the world for the perfect tune and rhyme _

_But what good would it do when it seems I'm out of time_

* * *

><p>'Well this song is definitely hitting home," Naruto thought as he looked at Hay Lin, who was seemingly oblivious to the words of the song. Hay Lin, the beautiful girl who had his heart in her hands, and would be leaving tomorrow morning.<p>

* * *

><p>As Taranee went over to talk with Cornelia, Lee looked after her a sad longing look on his face. Ever since he had seen her face again he had just wanted to pour his heart to her, but the bushy browed young man knew that it was too late.<p>

_If I told you all the words I've yet to say_

_Would they matter?_

_Or would you simply turn and walk away_

_If I hold you, will you tell me I should go?_

_Do I chance it or would it just be better not to know_

* * *

><p>Out of the corner of his eye Neji watched Cornelia as she laughed at something Taranee had said and gave a bitter smile as he continued to listen to the words. He wanted to tell Cornelia that he still loved her, but for all he knew she didn't feel that way about him anymore.<p>

* * *

><p>Sasuke clenched his fists in an attempt to stay in control and not do anything stupid. But as he watched Will's every movement it became clearer that he didn't have much control left. He wanted so badly to reach out and pull her to him, but he wasn't sure how Will would respond.<p>

* * *

><p>All the while the girls had been listening to the song and didn't dare look at any of the shinobi, afraid of what emotions they might see on their faces. All of the guardians inwardly cringed when a female singer took over the song.<p>

_Who's that girl with the perfect future_

_Her reflection says it all_

_Trying hard to pretend she's eager_

_Searching for some way to stall_

* * *

><p>Will swallowed as she again thought about the gaze she could feel burning a hole in the back of her head. Sasuke's earlier question still lingered in her mind and she let out a small sigh. She should have been happy, but she was starting to doubt it.<p>

* * *

><p>Irma, like Will, knew Shikamaru as staring at her as the song played and bit her lip. The words were, unfortunately, her exact thoughts. She was trying very hard to want to leave, but something was holding her back and she was pretty sure who was causing it.<p>

_So unsure of the road she's chosen_

_Faced with feelings her heart should not allow_

_One thing's certain it seems that she just can't turn back now_

_If she can tell her how_

* * *

><p>Hay Lin took a deep breath in an attempt to keep her heart from pounding. Being at the festival with Naruto had reminded her how alive she felt around him, but she was so confused. She had a life back in Heatherfield and her parents and grandmother. She couldn't stay in the Leaf Village, could she?<p>

* * *

><p>Elyon struggled not to look over her shoulder at Kiba, knowing he would he looking right back at her. She still wanted to be with Kiba, but wasn't sure if a relationship could ever work out between them. She was a queen after all, and she didn't know if her people would accept someone outside of Meridian.<p>

_If I told you, all the words I've yet to say_

_Would they matter or would you simply turn and walk away_

_If I hold you will you tell me I should go_

_Do I chance it or would it just be better not to know_

_Not to know_

* * *

><p>Taranee smiled bitterly and shook her head as the song finished. The fire guardian still cared about Lee, and she knew that he still cared about her. A part of her wanted to jump into his arms and never leave him again, but another part of her was scared of what would happen if she did.<p>

* * *

><p>Crossing her arms, Cornelia tried to suppress the knots that were beginning to form in her stomach. Her whole life she had always done what she said she would do and never rethought her decision, but now that she had seen Neji again she was wondering if leaving him again was really the right choice.<p>

* * *

><p>An hour later the festival was still going and more people, mostly teenagers were on the dance floor while others were bored out of their minds. Irma was one of them.<p>

'This party is not as fun as I hoped it would be,' she thought.

Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. "You look like you're about to die of boredom," Shikamaru said.

"Oh believe me I am close," Irma retorted.

The shadow user smiled slightly. "Well luckily for you, I have the cure for that."

The water guardian looked up at him curiously. "What do you mean you have the cure?"

"Come with me and I'll show you," the genius said holding out his hand. "And don't worry, this won't be awkward," he quickly added when Irma raised an eyebrow.

After a few seconds the girl placed her hand in his and Shikamaru began to lead her away from the rest of the festival. Ino noticed them leaving and smiled softly. Seeing the two of them together again was something she never thought would happen and she could only hope that everything would work out so that both of her friends could be happy.

"Shikamaru, where are you taking me?" Irma asked with a smile as they walked up a hill.

"When Ino, Choji, and I were kids we used to sneak out here during the summer and look at the stars to see how many shapes we could find. We eventually stopped because those two could never find more than me. I figured you would be a bit more of a challenge," the young man said.

Irma's smiled widened as she lay down on the soft grass and put her hands behind her head. "Challenge accepted! My mom and I used to do this all the time when I was little so I have no doubt I will easily find more than you."

"You think so huh, well we'll see about that," Shikamaru said with a smirk.

* * *

><p>"You have no idea, how relieved I am, that you wanted to leave," Kiba said as he and Elyon were walking away from the festival.<p>

"Honestly, I wouldn't have lasted another minute in there. Why does Naruto still let those bore fests go on."

The dog ninja rolled his eyes. "Who knows what goes on in that man's head? I actually still can't believe he became Hokage."

The blonde laughed. "Yeah, I'm surprised that he lived long enough to earn that title. I would've thought for sure you or one of the others would have killed him by now."

Kiba snickered and ran a hand through his hair. "You know it's been really nice being with you tonight, Elyon."

"Right back at you, Kiba. You know I just realized that I never apologized for slapping you a few days ago."

"Yeah well, I kinda deserved it. I mean I did call you a wench after all," Kiba said rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about," Elyon said taking his hand in hers.

For a few seconds, but what felt like hours to Kiba, they stared at each other until the queen quickly looked down, dropping his hand, a light blush on her face. "Sorry I don't know why I just did that."

The ninja thought over the night and realized that in this past few hours, he had been happier than he had in years. Setting his jaw in resolve, Kiba swallowed his pride and fear of rejection and slowly brought his hand up to gently stroke, Elyon's face, making her look up again. "Elyon you need to know why I acted the way I did. I-" He was cut off when Elyon covered his mouth with her hand.

"You don't have to Kiba, Hinata told me already. Please don't be mad at her, I just wanted to know what I was doing to make you so angry," The queen said.

With a smirk, the ninja gently grabbed Elyon's wrist and pressed a kiss to the palm covering his mouth making Elyon's eyes go wide. "Well Elyon, you know how I feel, so what about you?"

Elyon sighed. "You're not going to let me go until you get an answer are you?"

"Nope," Kiba admitted proudly.

"I…I still love you Kiba," The girl admitted. A smile began to make its way across Kiba's face but faded at her next words. "But I don't see how a relationship would work. I'm not like Will, Hay Lin, and Irma who were born here, I'm from a completely different world and I have responsibilities to me people."

"We could find a way to make it work," said the stubborn ninja.

Elyon reached up and put a hand on his cheek. "How? I can't leave my people, and I won't ask you to leave the Leaf for me."

"Elyon, if there's a way we can find it," Kiba said.

"Maybe, but even if there is, I'm still going to leave with my friends tomorrow and watch over my people. I should go," the blonde said turning to walk away. "Good bye Kiba."

"Goodbye Elyon," Kiba murmured as he watched her walk away.

* * *

><p>"Thanks again for putting up with us at the festival," Taranee said to Lee and Neji as they walked her and Cornelia to their apartment.<p>

Neji smirked. "Oh yes because you two are completely impossible to deal with," he said sarcastically.

Cornelia smiled. "Neji, did you really just make a joke?"

Lee and Taranee laughed as the prodigy shook his head at the blonde who giggled. "Is mocking me the only pastime the three of you find enjoyable?"

"Yes," Lee, and Taranee said in unison, still laughing, while Cornelia just smiled.

After that there was a comfortable silence between the four until they reached the apartments. The green beast was the first to speak.

"Are you still planning on leaving tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"Yes," Cornelia replied a hint of sadness in her voice.

"So this is goodbye then," Neji said.

"I guess so," Taranee said, nodding her head.

For a few short seconds the four of them just stood there in silence, until the fire guardian moved to hug Lee. The bushy browed young man immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back, resisting the urge to ask her to stay.

Neji and Cornelia looked away from their friends only to end looking at each other. The blonde felt her chest tighten as longing began to spread through her body. She quickly tried to suppress the urge and offered Neji a shaky smile. "It was good seeing you again Neji."

"You too," the man replied quickly.

Taranee soon stepped back from her hug with Lee and tried to make a sincere smile appear on her face. "I hope you do well in Anbu, Lee."

"Thank you, Taranee."

As the two girls turned to enter their apartment, Neji suddenly spoke up without thinking. "Cornelia."

When she turned around, the words 'Don't leave,' filled the Hyuga's mouth, but knowing it would only cause trouble he swallowed them back. "I hope that you and Taranee are happy in your other world."

Cornelia nodded. "Thank you…goodbye you guys," she said. With that she and Taranee quickly walked into their apartment and closed the door softly behind them.

Lee looked over at Neji and saw that his fists were clenched and his jaw was set. "Neji-"

"Let's just go!" His friend cried, walking away.

Meanwhile Cornelia slide down against the wall until she was sitting on the floor and put her head in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Taranee asked gently.

"No," the earth guardian quietly.

The dark skinned girl sat down next to her friend and put an arm around her shoulder. "Neither am I."

* * *

><p>Back at the hill, Irma smiled contentedly as she looked up at the stars. She and Shikamaru had looked for shapes for almost an hour until Shikamaru had gotten stumped and suggested that they just sit there and look at the stars for a while. Looking to her side Irma shook her head when she saw that the lazy man had fallen asleep.<p>

"You'll never change will you?" Irma said, smiling softly. After a few seconds the water guardian pushed herself up to a sitting position so she could see Shikamaru better and she let out a sigh. "You have no idea how much I want to stay here with you, but I have responsibilities as a guardian and I can't leave the family I have back in my other world. You know it's a really good thing you're asleep right now or else I never would have said that."

Irma then decided that she should leave before he woke up. Just before she left though she leaned and gently brushed Shikamaru's lips with hers. "I love you, Shikamaru. I'm sorry." With that she jumped up and ran away from the hill.

Seconds after she left, the Nara's eyes shot open and he jolted up. Irma didn't know, but he had been awake the whole time and had heard every word she had said. When she had kissed him, it had taken everything he had not to kiss her back, but he knew that she would have just been angry with him. Now he couldn't go after her because it was too late to do anything.

"So troublesome," he muttered.

* * *

><p>"Are you seriously not going to talk to me at all?"Sasuke asked as he and Will walked back to her apartment.<p>

"There's nothing to talk about Sasuke," Will replied calmly.

"Oh yes there is," the Uchiha said grabbing her arm.

"Sasuke please don't start, I-" Will began.

"No, you're going to listen to what I have to say whether you like it or not," Sasuke said forcefully. "You told me earlier that you were happy, but you and I both know that that's a lie. And we also know that you still have feelings for me or else you would never have returned the kiss I gave you."

Will's heart started to hammer. "Why are you being like this Sasuke? Why do you care if I still care about you? Why is it so important for you to hear me say whether I'm happy or not?"

"Because I love you!" Sasuke cried. There he'd said it. After five long years the words he'd wanted to tell Will had finally been released and he watched her eyes widened as she processed what she had just heard.

"What?" the keeper managed to ask, suddenly finding it difficult to breath.

"I love you Will and I want you to stay. When you first came here I was happier than I've ever been before. I could barely stand it when you left five years ago and now I'm begging you, don't leave me again," Sasuke said, gripping the girl's arms.

Will stood there stunned. Never in her life would she have imagined Sasuke Uchiha begging for anything. Now he was standing in front of her doing just that. She could see the desperation and love on his face and it was almost enough to make her throw her arms around him and kiss him. Almost.

"Sasuke I think you should go now," she said turning away from him.

The raven haired man's eyes widened. "What?"

"Leave Sasuke," Will repeated, in a stronger voice. "You can't seem to understand that I have a duty as a guardian to protect the dimensions and I can't just drop everything after coming back here. I'm leaving tomorrow with my friends and nothing is going to change my mind, so please don't try."

Several long seconds passed and Will could hear Sasuke, taking deep breaths to maintain his self control. "Fine then," he finally said. "Go for all I care. I lost you once and I think I can do it again."

With that the Uchiha turned his back to her and walked away, leaving Will standing in the middle of the road. After she was sure he was far enough away, Will cracked. She fell to her knees her as her body racked with sobs.

"I'm sorry Sasuke," she chocked out as tears streamed down her face.

* * *

><p>Naruto tried to keep a smile on his face as he walked Hay Lin back to her apartment, but it coming more difficult by the second. The time he would have to say goodbye to the love of his life was literally moments away and then she would be out of his life forever.<p>

"Well here we are," he said as they arrived to their destination.

"Thanks again for everything Naruto. Will wanted me to tell you that she's going to be at your office first thing tomorrow morning to get the treaty," Hay Lin said.

"Yeah sure," the Hokage replied absentmindedly.

"Well I guess this is goodbye then," the air guardian said. Before Naruto could say or do anything, Hay Lin stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Good bye Naruto."

As she reached for the door knob Naruto started speaking behind her. "Hay Lin I'm going to tell you something and you don't have to say anything, just please listen. The morning Madara kidnapped you, I told you that I loved you and I meant it. That hasn't changed Hay Lin. I still love you and I always will love you."

The air guardian had not turned around as Naruto spoke, too stunned to move. Finally she turned around, only to find that the young Hokage had already left. Hay Lin closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek.

"I love you too, Naruto," she whispered.

_END OF CHAPTER_

**W.I.T.C.H. FAN: Now hopefully some of you see why it took my so long to get this up. This is probably the longest chapter I have written for ANY of my stories. I had to cram everything into this because after this there are two more chapters to go. R AND R my friends!**


	12. Chapter 12

**W.I.T.C.H. Fan: Hola mi Amigos! Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I hope you all have a great time with your family on what I like to call the National Pig Out Day. You know it's a perfect name for Thanksgiving. But I digress. Enjoy!**

Chapter 12

The next morning, after a long, sleepless night, Naruto was in his office with both the treaties sitting on his desk. He knew that very soon on the guardians would come to get them and then they would leave again for good this time. Sure enough a knock echoed through the room before Will opened the door.

The Hokage gave his sister a small smile. "No offence or anything Will, but you look like a mess."

Will returned the smile. "I know." She had a major headache and the bags under bloodshot eyes were evidence that she did not get any sleep last night. "Do you have the treaties?"

"Right here," her brother said holding them up. "Gaara didn't ask any questions and I didn't tell him anything so he has no idea that you're even here."

"Thank you Naruto," Will said taking the scrolls from him.

"So I guess you'll be leaving in a few minutes then," Naruto said looking down.

"Yeah, but hey maybe I'll send you a copy of my book," the redhead said with a grin.

The blonde nodded. "I'd like that. I bet it will be fantastic!"

"That's what I'm hoping," Will said. After a few seconds she took a deep breath. "Naruto after I leave will you do something for me?"

"Sure what is it?" Naruto asked.

"Tell Sasuke that I'm sorry for what I'm putting him through and that the last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. Tell him that I want him to move on and that I hope he'll be happy," the guardian said.

The young Hokage nodded. "I'll be sure to tell him. He won't like it though."

"I know, but he should still hear it," Will replied. "Well, goodbye Naruto," she said turning and walking out of the room.

"Goodbye Will," Naruto mumbled quietly.

* * *

><p>Several hours later the guardians and Elyon were all standing together outside the doors to their apartments.<p>

"This is it guys, it's time to go report to the oracle," Will said.

Cornelia looked over at Elyon and saw her looking downcast. "You okay?"

"Leaving is even harder the second time around," the queen replied.

The earth guardian put a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "I know."

Raising the Heart of Candracar Will created a fold. "Come on guys let's go."

"Wait!"

The sudden cry made the group turn around and they were surprised to see Ino and Choji running towards them.

"Ino, Choji, what the heck are you guys doing here?" Irma asked.

"You didn't really think we'd let you leave without saying goodbye a second time did you?" Ino asked placing her hand on her hips.

The water guardian smiled. "You're right I should have known better." With that she wrapped her arms around both Ino and Choji in a hug goodbye.

"We'll miss you Irma," Choji said.

His wife nodded in agreement. "You have to find a way to keep in touch with us," she demanded.

"I don't know if that's possible, but I'll see what I can do," Irma said.

"Well good luck in the other world, or whatever it's called," Ino said.

The Akimichi head smiled. "It was really good seeing you again Irma."

"Same here. Goodbye you guys," Irma said stepping away from her friends and holding back tears. Looking at Will she nodded. "Let's go."

Ino and Choji watched sadly as Irma walked through the fold along with the other guardians. After they were gone, the blonde looked at her husband. "This is going to kill Shikamaru."

Choji sighed. "I know."

* * *

><p>Stepping out of the fold onto the steps of Candracar the girls were surprised to see not only the Oracle waiting for them, but Miradel, Alborn, and Yan Lin as well.<p>

"Mom, dad, what are doing here?" Elyon asked her adoptive parents.

"You'll see soon enough your majesty," her mother replied with a knowing smile, which only confused the young queen further.

Will stepped forward and held the scrolls out to the Oracle. "Here are the treaties signed by both the Hokage and the Kazekage."

"Well done guardians," the oracle said. After a moment he looked at the six girls in front of him questioningly. "I sense that something troubles you. Did something happen in the village?"

"Oh something happened all right," Irma muttered.

"Be quiet," Taranee whispered to Irma.

"Girls what's wrong?" Yan Lin asked. "Is it those boys?"

Each of the guardians cringed. "Unfortunately yes," Elyon said.

"What happened?" Alborn asked.

There was a long pause before Cornelia answered. "It's a long story and I don't think any of us want to say what happened."

The former air guardian smiled gently. "Oh girls, you don't have to tell us, we can see it on all of your faces. You still love those young shinobi."

This bold statement stunned the girls into silence and for some reason, the Oracle and Elyon parents smiled knowingly.

"Elyon sweetheart," Miradel said placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Do you really love that young man from the leaf village?"

Not being able to lie to parents Elyon nodded. "Yes mom, I love him."

"And are you happy when you're with him?" Her father asked. Again Elyon nodded.

Hay Lin looked at her grandmother. "Grandma, what is going on?"

"Ever since you first left the village five years ago none of you ever seemed to be genuinely happy. I knew that you never stopped loving those boys, but I also knew there was no way any of you would own up to it. So Alborn, Miradel, and I went to the Oracle and asked him to help us," Yan Lin explained.

"What are you saying, Yan Lin?" Taranee asked

"She's saying that this was never a real mission. It was just a way for you girls to go back to the village and realize that it was where you were truly happy," Miradel finished.

For several seconds all six of the girls just stared at their four friends, mouths agape. Will was the first to pull herself together. "Okay hang on, I'm still confused here. If you sent us there trying to make us happy, then why did you want us to come back?"

The oracle, whose all knowing smile had never left his face stepped forward. "Just because we sent you, it doesn't mean that we were sure everything would work out the way we hoped. Seeing as it has though, I am offering you all a choice. You can give up being guardians and return to the leaf village or remain guardians and stay in Heatherfield."

"Wait, are you really saying that we can go back if we wanted to?" Irma asked. The Oracle nodded.

"Oh don't look so surprised girls," Yan Lin laughed upon seeing their faces. "You are all grown up women who can make their own choices. What I want you all to do right now, is think about what you truly want."

Tears filled Hay Lin's eyes and jumped forward embracing her grandmother. "Thank you grandma, thank you so much."

"Well I guess you already know what you want," the older woman laughed.

Alborn looked at his daughter and saw the downcast expression on her face. "What's wrong Elyon?"

"I don't have a choice like they all do. I have to stay on Meridian for my people and I don't want to make Kiba leave his village for me. There's no way for us to be together," the queen said sadly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that your majesty," her mother said. "Your father and I have worked out a way for you and this young man to be together, if you will both agree to it."

When she heard the plan that her parents had in mind, a huge smile split Elyon's face and she threw her arms around them. "You're the best parents a girl could ask for."

Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin were bouncing up and down excitedly by this point and Will and Cornelia had big smiles plastered onto their faces.

"Well guardians, what is your choice?" The oracle asked.

Will looked at her friends, asking a silent question. They answered by nodding their heads. Turning back to the Oracle the keeper's smile got even bigger. "I think you already know your answer, Oracle."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru Nara sighed for what must have been the millionth time since Ino and Choji had informed him that Irma had left, which had been two hours ago. He closed his eyes and had to refrain from punching something as the thought again crossed his mind that the love of his life was gone. "I should have stopped her," the genius muttered. "I should have asked her to stay."<p>

His head fell back onto his pillow when he heard someone knocking at the door and decided to just ignore it. The knocking persisted for several seconds and just as Shikamaru was about to nod off, his eyes shot open when he heard the person at the door yell.

"Shikamaru I know you're in there! Don't make me regret coming back!" Irma's voice shouted.

Within three seconds Shikamaru was out of bed and the door was wide open revealing a smirking brunette with big blue eyes.

"Irma?" He asked in disbelief. "What…how…I…you left-"

"Yeah I did, but there was a change in plans," Irma said.

"What kind of change?" the young Nara asked, still surprised that Irma was standing right in front of him.

"Let's just say that I realized that these past five years I was just kidding myself in thinking I had moved on," The spunky girl said. Then, without giving any warning, she reached up and kissed Shikamaru, shocking him even more.

"Okay Irma I really need some context here," The genius said after Irma had pulled back. "I mean it's not that I'm not happy to see you because I am, but can you please explain things better?"

Irma smiled up at him and put her hand on his cheek. "When I first came back to the village a few days ago, I was determined to never get near you. Obviously that plan failed miserably when you came to see Ino."

"Was there a plan B?" Shikamaru asked, feeling his heart start to beat a little faster.

"Yep. Don't let our past get in the way of the mission at hand. Again that failed miserably."

The pineapple head raised an eyebrow. "When?"

"The second I heard you say my name," Irma responded.

Shikamaru smiled and put his hand over hers. "So what now? Are you staying?"

The water queen nodded. "Yes and I'm staying because I want to be with you."

The shadow user's heart almost burst with happiness right then and there. She was staying with him and she wasn't going to leave him again! "Well if that's the case, then I guess I finally get to give this back to you," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Irma's ring.

Irma felt happy tears form in her eyes as Shikamaru took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. With a gentle smile, the young man wrapped his arms around her. "I love you Irma," he said.

At that, a few of the tears fell as the ex-water guardian gave a happy laugh. "I love you too."

"I know. You told me last night when you thought I was sleeping," the genius said with smirk.

Irma's jaw dropped in surprise. "Wait a minute, you were faking the whole freaking-" She was cut off when Shikamaru fused their mouths together. Just before the kiss wiped her mind clean, Irma decided that coming back to be with the lazy genius was without a doubt the best freaking decision she had ever made in her life.

* * *

><p>"You know if you two keep pushing yourself this hard, you'll be unconscious before the day is over," TenTen said, looking at her teammates with concern.<p>

Neji and Lee had been training nonstop since the early morning, knowing that Cornelia and Taranee were gone and they refused to stop no matter what their friend said.

With a frustrated sigh the weapon's mistress threw her hands in the air. "Would you idiots please listen to me? I know you're upset by the fact they left, but training harder than usual isn't going to help. Don't you remember that you both almost killed each other the first time they left because you were training too hard?"

Once again, Neji and Lee ignored TenTen. Just as she was about to go over and beat some sense back into them, two kunai flew between the young men, stopping them mid-attack. Turning to look for the source their eyes widened in surprise when they saw Cornelia and Taranee standing several feet away.

TenTen's eyebrows shot up as she watched the scene in front of her. 'This should be interesting,' she thought.

With nervous smiles, the now former earth and the fire guardians went up to Neji and Lee. Cornelia brushed her hair away from her eyes, something she always did when she was nervous, as she stood in front of the Hyuga. "Hi Neji."

"Cornelia what are you doing here. I heard you left," the prodigy said.

The blonde nodded. "I did."

"But then why did you come back?" he asked, hope beginning to spread through him.

Cornelia smirked. "Did you really think I was going to leave the man I loved twice?"

Neji practically stopped breathing as he processed her words. "You still love me?"

"Yes and I shouldn't have left you all those years ago," she responded. Before the Byakugan wielder could reply in any way, Cornelia wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was, of course, only too happy to return it.

Lee and Taranee were too busy having their own conversation to take notice of their friends.

"What made you change your mind?" the green beast asked.

The dark skinned girl raised an eyebrow. "Hmm let's see if you can guess. He's tall, strong, brave, kind, has bushy eyebrows, loves green spandex, and I'm completely in love with him."

Almost instantly after the words left her mouth, Taranee found herself in Lee's arms as she spun her around.

"I love you too, my beautiful flower!" he cried happily as he stopped spinning Taranee.

"I know," the ex-guardian said just before Lee kissed her.

Oblivious to her friends, TenTen had remained in the same spot the whole time, completely unnoticed. She smiled and shook her head. 'Well they're definitely happy now. At least I don't have to worry about Lee and Neji killing each other anymore."

* * *

><p>At his team's training ground, Kiba was sitting on a small hill with Akamaru's head in his lap. The dog ninja sighed as he continued to think about the young queen he had fallen in love with. As if knowing what was going on, Akamaru let out a small whimper.<p>

"Yeah I know boy," Kiba said scratching his friend's head. "I miss her too."

It was silent for a few more minutes until Akamaru's head perked up and he leapt away from Kiba.

"Hey Akamaru where are you going?" The Inuzuka cried standing up to go after him. He stopped short however when he saw Elyon gently petting the dog. Looking up, the queen smiled at the expression on Kiba's face.

"Hey Kiba, did you miss me?"

Slowly a smile appeared on Kiba's face and he quickly walked over to the blonde. "You came back. Why?"

"I came to make Naruto an offer. I've been thinking about it and I figured it would be in Meridian and the Leaf's best interest to form an alliance," Elyon explained.

"Another treaty? Isn't that what started this mess in the first place?" Kiba asked crossing his arms.

"It's not like that, Naruto just needs to approve of my proposal. Besides treaties are just pieces of paper that lose value very quickly. My idea for an alliance is something much stronger and more permanent," the queen said.

The dog ninja looked at her, confused. "What kind of alliance are you thinking of."

A sly smile appeared on Elyon's face. "It's simple really, all I would have to do is marry someone from the leaf. Preferably someone from the Inuzuka clan."

Her smile grew as she saw understanding dawn on Kiba and his eyes widened as his jaw dropped. After several seconds he was finally able to speak.

"Elyon did you…did you just ask me to marry you?" He asked incredulously .

"Yeah pretty much," Elyon said with a laugh. "But it isn't like I'm forcing. You can choose whether or not you want to do this. I know this may not have been what you were thinking when you said there might have been a way for us to be together."

Kiba smirked. "Elyon, although this is probably the weirdest marriage proposal in history, nothing would make me happier than marrying you."

With a delighted squeal Elyon jumped into Kiba's arms and kissed him soundly. When she heard the Inuzuka laugh she pulled away slightly. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that soon your name will be Elyon Inuzuka. Gotta say I really like the sound of that," the dog ninja said before he and Elyon kissed again.

* * *

><p>Will bit her bottom lip as she stood nervously in front of the Uchiha mansion. She was terrified of what Sasuke what would say to her after the way she had said to him last night. Gathering her courage she knocked on the door. She didn't have to wait long before it opened.<p>

"Naruto for the last time I don't-" Sasuke stopped when he saw that it was Will standing in front of him and not the knuckle head.

"Hi Sasuke," she said.

"What are you doing here, Will?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"I have to talk with you," the former keeper said.

"I thought you said it all last night," Sasuke said angrily.

The redhead flinched at his words. "Please let me explain." When he said nothing Will took it as a sign to continue. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to say those words to you Sasuke. I never wanted to hurt you, but I had to. I thought that with me being a guardian we couldn't be together."

"Then why did you come back?" The Uchiha asked.

"I gave up being a guardian Sasuke. I gave up my powers so I could be with you. I know you're never going to let me live this down, but you were right about me being unhappy. I wanted to forget about you and told myself that I was happy, but I was lying. I guess the first time I admitted it to myself was when you kissed me and I realized that I was still in love with you. I love you Sasuke Uchiha, you make me happy and I…"

She trailed off when Sasuke took her face in his hands. Looking at his own face she saw his eyes were filled with the kind of emotion she knew were reserved just for her. "Just shut up and kiss me," he said before he captured Will's mouth with his.

As the redhead returned the kiss she put her hands on Sasuke's chest and smirked as she felt his heart pounding. 'I guess I have more power over him than I thought,' she thought just before the Uchiha deepened the kiss, wiping her mind clean. It was only when the need for air became too great that they separated.

"Wow," Will breathed as she tried to calm her racing heart.

Sasuke smirked and pulled her even closer to him, his arms wrapped possessively around her waist. "I hope you realize that now I'm never going to let you leave me again, no matter what the circumstance."

The ex-guardian smiled and rested her head on his chest. "I wouldn't have it any other way Sasuke."

* * *

><p>Naruto took a deep breath as he looked sat in his chair looking at the view of the leaf from his office. 'I still can't believe Hay Lin's gone.'<p>

When someone knocked on the door the Hokage didn't even turn around. "Come in," he called. 'It's probably Konahamaru coming to bug me about the whole Hay Lin thing,' he thought.

"Naruto it's me," Hay Lin said.

The knuckle head whipped around immediately and when he saw it was Hay Lin he flew out of his chair. However he stood up so fast that he tripped over his own two feet, doing a face plant on the floor.

"Are you okay?" The black haired girl asked trying not to laugh.

"Am I okay?" Naruto asked with a huge smile as he quickly stood up. "You're standing right in front of me after I thought you had left. How could I not be okay?"

"I shouldn't have even thought about leaving you," Hay Lin said as the young Hokage hugged her. "Naruto, you told me last night that you were still in love with me and I came back to tell you that I still love you too and that I'm never going to leave you again."

At that, Naruto pulled back slightly, only to rest his forehead against Hay Lin's. "You have no idea how happy I am right now."

The former air guardian smiled. "Actually I think I have a pretty good idea."

The spiky haired blonde smiled gently and slowly leaned in pressing his lips to Hay Lin's and was only too happy when she reached up to hold him at his back.

"Alright way to go boss!"

The two quickly pulled apart at the yell and saw Konohamru, Moegi, and Udon standing in the doorway. Somehow they had managed to open the door without Naruto or Hay Lin noticing.

"You three get out of here!" The Hokage shouted.

Konohamaru laughed. "You have to tell me everything later boss," he said giving Naruto the thumbs up as he and his friends quickly ran off.

"Sorry that kinda killed the moment didn't it?" Naruto asked Hay Lin, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

The girl shrugged her shoulder. "Nah, not really. Now where were we?"

The blonde was pleasantly surprised when Hay Lin grabbed the collar of his cloak and pulled him down so she could kiss him again. Who knew little Hay Lin, could be so bold? Well Naruto certainly wasn't complaining that's for sure.

As he wrapped his arms around the love of life, the Hokage was certain of one thing. No matter what happened after today he and Hay Lin could face. Whatever challenges presented themselves, Naruto would be beside her.

Because this was only the beginning of their new life together.

_END OF CHAPTER_

**W.I.T.C.H. Fan: Well what do you guys think? I hope you're all happy with how this turned out. Well it's not over yet, there's one more chapter to go and it will be up soon, I promise. **


	13. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

Six years had passed since the day W.I.T.C.H. had returned to their loved ones in the Hidden Leaf Village and everything was peaceful. Well mostly peaceful anyway.

"I didn't break it you did!" A little five year old girl yelled at her brother as they stood over a shattered vase.

"Yes you did!" the boy shouted back.

"No it was you!" she cried. "It's your fault and now mom and dad are going to yell at us!"

"No it's your fault!" her brother yelled.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"IS NOT!"

**"IS TOO!"**

**"MOM!"**

"Itachi, Mikoto what are two fighting about this time?" Will Uchiha asked walking over to her screaming children.

Mikoto looked at her mother tears threatening to spill from her onyx eyes. "Itachi and I were playing and I told him not to run around the room, but he wouldn't listen and he tripped and knocked over the vase. Now he's blaming me for it saying I didn't try and stop him!"

"Is that true?" Will asked her gaze turning to her son.

The little boy pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to look his mother in the eye.

"Itachi I asked you a question," the redheaded woman said, waiting patiently for her son to answer her.

Finally the little boy sighed. "Yes." When Will raised an eyebrow he turned to his sister. "Sorry Mikoto."

"What's going on in here," Sasuke asked as he walked into the room with his two year old daughter Kushina in his arms.

"Just resolving a little argument," his wife said turning to him with a smile.

The Uchiha head merely rolled his eyes and looked at his children. Mikoto and Itachi were twins and took after their father with their black hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. Kushina on the other hand was the spitting image of Will with bright red hair, big brown eyes, and a whole lot of energy.

"Daddy are you mad at us for breaking the vase?" Mikoto asked.

Sasuke gave his oldest daughter a small smile. "No I'm not, but be more careful the next time you play in here."

The twins gave an audible sigh of relief and Kushina giggled. "Momma I pway?" she asked pointing to her siblings.

Will smiled as Sasuke handed the youngest to her. "No sweetheart you don't have time play. Your aunties and uncles will be here soon."

"Are they bringing Mai, Shikari, and Emi?" Mikoto asked hopefully.

"And Jiraya, Minato, Asuma, and Hizashi?" Itachi chimed in.

Their father nodded. "Yes they are so you two take Kushina and go upstairs so you can get ready."

"Okay!" the twins called each taking one of their sister's hands and walking up to their rooms.

Will let out a deep breath. "Alright time to clean up that vase."

Before she even took a step her husband wrapped an arm around her waist. "Let me do that. You know you shouldn't be bending over," he said placing his other hand on Will's swollen stomach. She was eight months pregnant with their fourth child.

The woman smirked up at her husband. "What you don't think I can handle a little bit of glass?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Sasuke said kissing his wife on her forehead.

Before Will could reply they heard the front door open with a bang. "The party has arrived" Naruto exclaimed loudly as he, his family, and all their friends walked in.

"Way to announce to whole village Naruto," Elyon said with a laugh as she and Kiba walked in with their daughter. Due to the marriage alliance Kiba and Elyon lived on Meridian. It had taken the dog ninja a while to adjust to the different environment but with Elyon's help he had come to love Meridian just as much as the Leaf and they made it a point to visit their friends once every week.

Will shook her head at her brother's. "You'd think that at 28 years old he would have a little more dignity than that."

"Naruto I'm going to kill you if we have to buy a new door because of you always kicking it open like that," Sasuke said glaring at his brother-in-law.

"Nice to see you too jerk," The Hokage replied smirking.

"Must you two always greet each other like that?" Irma Nara asked. "Even Kankuro and Gaara aren't that bad." The former water guardian had reunited with Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro not long after decided to stay in the Leaf Village. Naturally it took quite a bit of getting used to, but Irma soon became close with them and visited her siblings whenever she could.

"Would you three stop it," Hay Lin said though she was smiling. "You're setting a bad example for Jiraya and Minato."

"Yeah not to mention our kids," Taranee said gesturing to the other children in the room.

Hizashi Hyuuga, the five year old son of Cornelia and Neji, looked exactly like his father except for his eyes which were a shade of blue, inherited from his mother. He acted like Neji too aside from the rare occasions when he showed the stubbornness Cornelia so often expressed. He was best friends with Itachi and they enjoyed play sparring with each other.

Taranee and Lee's 3 year old daughter Mai, was a mix of her parents. She had her father's shiny black hair, which she usually had in a long ponytail, and his loud enthusiastic attitude. From Taranee she had inherited light brown skin, a love of learning, and thankfully her mother's eyebrows.

4 year old Asuma and 2 year old Shikari were the son and daughter of Shikamaru and Irma. Asuma, though he looked like Shikamaru, had inherited Irma loud joking personality which had been a shock to everyone. The boy couldn't keep still for more than five minutes and was always doing something with his mother. Shikari had Irma's light brown hair and blue eyes, but was just as lazy as her father. The little girl could often be seen cloud watching with Shikamaru or asleep in her crib.

Little 3 year old Emi was Kiba and Elyon's daughter. She had gotten Kiba's hair and fang markings and Elyon's blue eyes and light skin color. Despite being a princess, Emi was a bit of a tomboy and hated wearing dresses and playing with dolls, preferring to play-wrestle with Akamaru.

5 year old Jiraya was the oldest son of Hay Lin and Naruto. He looked more like his mother with dark hair and eyes and had also inherited her artistic nature. Like Hay Lin and Irma, Jiraya and Asuma were best friends and were always up to something mischievous. Minato was the youngest of all the children being only one year old. He was exactly like his father in every way from his energy to loving ramen as Naruto had started feeding him mashed up ramen noodles, dubbing it appropriate baby food.

"Where are Itachi, Mikoto and Kushina?" Cornelia asked.

Will smiled and looked up the stairs. "They should be done in three…two…one."

At the exact moment the words left Will's mouth, the three little Uchiha's came barreling down the stairs in flashes of black and red.

"Uncle Naruto!" Mikoto cheered, jumping into Naruto's arms.

"Hey kiddo good to see you," the man said hugging his niece.

"I'm so happy you're here Uncle," the little girl squealed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You would think it had been three months instead of one day since she last saw him."

"Hey guys," Itachi said running over to Jiraya, Hizashi, and Jiraya, no doubt to discuss their plans for the afternoon.

Shikamaru smirked at the boys. "Try and keep the damage to minimum this time okay you three. We don't want a repeat of the incident last week."

"Hizashi, try to keep the others in line alright?" Neji said to his son.

"I'd rather not, but I'll give it a shot," the boy replied.

Cornelia couldn't help but smirk. "You listen to your father young man."

Mikoto ran up to the little Hyuga. "Can I play with you Hizashi?" she asked grabbing his arm.

"Uh sure," Hizashi replied, blushing slightly as Mikoto smiled brightly at him.

Kushina, Mai, Emi, and Shikari sat in a circle around little Minato, laughing happily as the little one year old crawled around to each of them.

"Dada 'Nato's crawling!" Kushina cried to her father.

"Shikari, play with him," Emi demanded her friend as the baby tried to get the little Nara's attention.

"Twroubewsome," Shikari mumbled

"No it's youthful!" Mai said jumping to her feet in excitement.

"That's my girl!" Lee cried, while Taranee shook her head in amusement.

"Emi don't get too rough with Minato," Elyon warned. "He's still pretty small and he could get hurt easily."

"Oh come on Elyon, he lives with Naruto. That kind of torture has to have made the kid a little tougher," Kiba said with a laugh.

"What are you implying?" Naruto demanded glaring at his friend.

"Hey you two, don't start fighting so soon, wait till the kids are doing their own thing," Hay Lin said, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder.

An hour later all the kids were out in the yard while the adults were inside talking.

"Hey Will and Corny did you two see the way Hizashi was blushing when Mikoto grabbed him?" Irma asked with a sly smirk.

Cornelia laughed. "Oh we noticed all right. It looks like those two have a little case of puppy love."

"Oh no, my daughter is not going to have anything but friendship with that boy," Sasuke said.

"What's wrong with my son, Uchiha?" Neji asked his eyes narrowing.

"Don't take it personally Neji, Sasuke's just a little protective of our daughters, that's all," Will interjected.

"And they are only five years old," Taranee pointed out. "Besides doesn't Itachi hate it whenever Mikoto plays with him and Hizashi?"

Elyon laughed. "Well if Mikoto doesn't wind up with Hizashi, maybe Emi will."

"Ha yeah right!" Kiba laughed. "Those two fight every chance they get. It will never happen."

"Well we all fought with each other when we first met eleven years ago remember?" Hay Lin said.

"Yeah and look how we turned out," Naruto said draping on arm on his wife's shoulders and kissing her cheek.

Irma smiled and rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "We're all happily married with ten little kids running around."

"Time really does fly," Shikamaru said, nodding his head.

After a few more hours the youngest group of kids came into the house. Mai was supporting both Shikari and Kushina, who looked like they were ready to fall asleep any second, and Emi was struggling to carry a sleeping Minato.

"Aunt Hay Lin, I don't think I can hold him much longer!" the princess warned.

Quickly the woman went over and lifted her son, careful not to wake him. "Thank you Emi. Do you know where Jiraya is?"

"Still with the others," Emi muttered rubbing her eye tiredly.

"Come here sweetheart," Irma said picking up her own daughter, who instantly fell asleep on her mother's shoulder. The Nara woman shook her head and turned to her husband. "Like father, like daughter I guess."

"Mama, I tired," Kushina mumbled going over to her mother, who picked her up.

"Me too," Mai said, her eyes drooping as she rested in her mother's arms.

"Same," Emi added.

Kiba laughed. "I guess that's our cue to leave. It was good seeing you guys."

"Come on princess, time to go back home," Elyon said picking up her daughter.

"Kay" the little Inuzuka mumbled.

Neji stood up. "We'd better go get the boys and Mikoto."

"We will be back soon," Lee said as he and he and the other shinobi went out to look for the older kids, leaving the former guardians and the Queen alone.

Hay Lin smiled as she looked down at her sleeping son. "Did you guys ever think it would be like this?"

"Like what?" Cornelia asked.

"Us being so happy," The Uzumaki woman explained. "I mean I honestly never thought that I'd be married to a ninja and have two children with him, but I can't picture myself anywhere else."

"Same here," Taranee said. "I miss my parents and everything, but Lee and Mai are the best things to ever happen in my life and I wouldn't trade them for anything."

"I feel the same way with Kiba and Emi. My life on Meridian would be so empty without them with me," The queen said.

Irma smirked. "Shikamaru may be no Prince Charming, but he's my jounin in shining armor that's for sure. And I don't even wanna think about what I would be like if I didn't have him, Asuma, or Shikari."

Cornelia smiled, thinking about her life with Neji and their son. "That's how I feel about Neji and Hizashi."

Will smiled and looked out to the back yard to see Sasuke coming back carrying their twins. Her smile grew as she put on hand on sleeping Kushina's head and the other on her rounded belly where her fourth child was and said five simple words.

"It's a dream come true."

_END OF STORY_

**W.I.T.C.H. fan: Well how'd you like it people? I hope you found this process as enjoyable as I did, you know aside from the very late updates. And on a side note, there will be more stories and one-shots about W.I.T.C.H. and Naruto so keep thy eyes peeled! **


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